The Pure Hearted Heroine
by HannahHatter
Summary: Nicole had grown up hearing all about her Dad's adventures in another world known as Ni No Kuni and playing with a toy fairy named Mr. Drippy with her Dad's bad welsh accent. But now, she's grown up and doesn't believe in that kind of stuff. But when she makes a deal with Mortui and her father is taken away, she won't stop at anything to bring him home safely.
1. Chapter 1

(And yet she keeps coming out with more and more for the Ni No Kuni series! When it shall stop, we will never know! Actually, I know.)

"So. This is the one who shall save the world." the dark man said as he watched a man with scruffy red hair and bright blue eyes hugging a girl who looked like him on a projection.  
"So says the prophecy." The woman next to him said, then she turned and chuckled a little at their prisoners. "As do these... buffoons."  
"Buffoons?" One of them mocked.  
The dark man, known as Daimon, glared back at them as he walked over. "What makes you four feel as though this, mere mortal, is worthy of saving this world, when none of you, nor those "heroes" who have run off and hid, cannot even stand before me?"  
"He is our dearest friend, and my younger brother. I have faith in him, if nothing else!" The younger woman growled at him, her long haired tangled, her teal dress torn and her feet bare. Daimon growled back.  
"He has saved our world before, and shall save it again!" The younger man next to her added, admiring his wife's bravery. It never ceased to amaze him. He wore a teal jacket that was ripped, revealing a dark purple shirt and a pair of ripped purple pants, his black shoes only scuffed.  
"Faith?" Daimon scoffed. "The man will need more than faith if he dares to face me!" Then he turned back to the projection, which changed into one that showed many people they cared about, turned into stone. Captain Kublai, King Tom, the Cowlipha, Master Abull, Queen Aaliyah,Queen Cassiopeia, even the Lord High Lord of the Fairies Drippy and Tengri, all stone. But the elder sage noticed someone was gone. Someone who had been missing for some time.  
"My daughter. Where is she? Where is Esther!?" Rashaad shouted at Daimon and the woman, whom was called Lelina. Lelina laughed darkly.  
"Oh, don't worry your handsome little head about that! Your sweet Esther is safe. She is being put to good use." he showed them a projection, with snarling teeth that dripped with saliva, a horrid scream filling the room. Rashaad felt his heart break and he stumbled back a little, Khulan coming to his aid and helping him stand the best she could, what with her wrists tied behind her back.  
"You monster!" The Songstress ran at Daimon, who used his staff and pushed her back with a blast of magic, sending her to the ground.  
"Hey!" Marcassin shouted at Daimon, pulling at his binds as he ran to Harmony's side, her standing up slowly. Daimon came over and slapped both of the young rulers across the face.  
"Leave them alone!" Khulan and Rashaad shouted,two of the guards, known as Senfanists, running over and holding them back. Daimon roared furiously.  
"Enough of this charade!" Then he took a deep breath and stared menacingly at the three Sages and the Songstress. "Now, unless you want to join them, I suggest you tell me where the others are! Where is the Prince Thief of Hamelin!? The Pirate Star of the Seas!? Where is the Resistance!?" Harmony, who'd had just about enough of this herself, grabbed one of the Senfanist's staffs and swung at them, magic exploding from the staff at her being without having any control of it, not helping that she held it behind her back rather than holding it out front.  
"Get her! Get her!" Daimon shouted, blasting his own staff at her.  
"Harmony! Run!" Marcassin shouted. But Daimon wasn't allowing her to get away that easy. He looked to the older sages and blasted them into stone, then nodded towards another Senfanist, who blasted Marcassin, turning only his leg to stone.  
"Unless you want a statue for a husband, Songstress, I suggest you stop what you're doing and tell me where to find them!" Harmony looked at Marcassin, who looked pained. Then she dropped the staff.  
"Alright. I'll tell you." She came up and stared directly into Daimon's eyes. "I haven't got the slightest clue!" Daimon reached up and smacked her again, sending her flying across the room.  
"Harmony!" Marcassin shouted, the stone reaching up to his waist and covering both of his legs.  
"Daimon! She tells the truth!" Lelina told him. "The Prince Thief hadn't told her of his Resistance and the Pirate Star hasn't been seen in over two years." Harmony stood up slowly, pained, glaring at Lelina. "Not since I took care of her, at the least." Harmony thought of Nichole, her dear friend and aimed a Twister towards Lelina with her songspells. Then she ran over to Marcassin, who looked pained at the stone around his body, holding back tears of anguish.  
"Marcassin!" She whispered. He took her hand.  
"Harmony. You need to get out there! Oliver will come the minute he can. You must find him, and help him fight against the evil." She shook her head vigorously.  
"No no no! Don't talk like that! You have to come with me! Please!" Marcassin shook his head.  
"Harmony, look at me. I'm not getting out of here in the state I'm in." Then they felt a blast, and Marcassin winced, then the stone grew faster around his body. "Harmony! Just go!" Then the stone reached his face.  
"Marcassin!" she cried, then turned to see the Senfanists surrounding her. She felt a blast by her foot,, and she winced in pain. But she stood and ran out the door as fast as she could.  
"After her!" Daimon shouted, but if there was one thing Harmony could do, it was run! Soon, she was outside of the enormous castle and searching for a way off the island. That was when she saw a ship that she hadn't seen in a long time. As she ran towards it, she whispered to herself,  
"We're really on our own now, little one. But we'll find Oliver soon, and he will help."

 **PHH**

" _Mortui!_ " Daimon roared angrily. Then a man with long back hair that had streaks of gray in it and a black cloak with a medallion that hung around his neck appeared, carrying a knobbly cane.  
"Yes, Master Daimon?" He asked in a withered voice, looking to Daimon with dark eyes that had seen thousands of worlds. Daimon pulled the projection of Oliver and the young girl back up, and grinned evilly.  
"I want you to bring me this Pure Hearted One. We shan't have him causing any trouble for the Senfanists."  
"And the girl?" Mortui asked. Daimon chuckled gruffly.  
"Use her, of course. Use the love that the Pure Hearted One feels for her against him. And then, how about you rip it away from him? Just for fun." Mortui cackled evilly.  
"Yes, Master Daimon." He said darkly, the shadows of the familiars of the Mortui genus rising behind him. Daimon laughed darkly as he watched the young girl hug Oliver back on the projection, her eyes shining like a child listening to a fairy tale.  
"There comes a time when every little girl has to grow up. This one will have no one to stop her with the Pure Hearted One gone."


	2. Chapter 2

_Oliver walked in the door to see his four year old daughter Nicole laying on the floor, colouring a picture, dressed in a purple halter top that had pink sleeves and a pair of pink pyjama pants. He snuck up behind her and tickled her, making her squeal with laughter._  
 _"Daddy! Stop it!" She shouted. He laughed as he bent down and picked her up in a hug. "I'm glad you're home Daddy! I hope I never grow up, so that I don't have to go to work!" Then she showed him her picture that she was drawing. "_ _Lookit_ _Daddy! I'm drawing a picture of when you and your friends when you defeated_ _Shadar_ _!" She pointed to each person in the picture, who were all drawn pretty well for a four year old. "See? That's you, and that's Harmony flying on her staff, and there's Esther with her harp, and Swaine with his gun! And there's meanie old_ _Shadar_ _!" Oliver looked at her drawing and smiled, remembering that day._  
 _"That's amazing, sweetie!" He told her. Then he noticed someone was missing. "You forgot Mr. Drippy!" She looked at her picture, and gasped._  
 _"I can fix it!" He laughed again and kissed her cheek, taking the picture and setting it on the end table._  
 _"Come on,_ _littlie_ _!" He teased, using the name that baby fairies were called. "Let's go see what Mommy's making for dinner!" Then he threw her onto his shoulders and carried her to the kitchen piggyback style, where Myrtle was setting the table. When she saw the two, she smiled._  
 _"There's my hero!" She said teasingly to Oliver. "And my_ _littlie_ _!" She reached over and gave Oliver a hug and a kiss on the cheek, then tousled Nicole's hair. "Guess who gets to join us for dinner tonight?" Nicole got excited as Oliver lifted her down into a chair._  
 _"Who?" That was when three of her favourite people entered._  
 _"I come bearing hugs and a letter!" Melody's voice floated in dramatically, followed by Sam and Grant's laughter. Nicky's eyes widened and she jumped from her chair._  
 _"Aunt Melody! " She exclaimed, hugging her aunt. Sam pretended to be disappointed._  
 _"What? No hug for your favourite uncles?" She jumped up and ran at both Sam and Grant, who knelt down, caught her, and lifted her up together in unison._  
 _"Hi, Uncle Sam! Hi Uncle Grant!" She exclaimed. That was when her grandparents entered._  
 _"Hey! There's my favourite granddaughter!" Her Grandpa Rusty called, and she ran over to give them hugs. Grandma Betty smiled at Oliver and Myrtle._  
 _"_ _ _We overheard that__ _ _Nichole's__ _ _letter had come in." She said. Nichole was Nicole's namesake, of course, as well as her godmother. She often sent letters and cards around the holidays, and she had yet to miss a Thanksgiving. Everyone loved receiving the letters from her, especially Nicole, so it was always a bit of a celebration when one came and everyone came for dinner. Soon, they were all seated around the table, Nicole in between Oliver and Sam and they listened to__ _ _Nichole's__ _ _recent adventures over the seas...__ _Later that same evening, Nicole ran around her room, wearing white pyjamas and a red cape, holding a stick._  
 _ _"Take that,__ _ _Shadar__ _ _!" She shouted,jumping into the air. "__ _ _Mornstar__ _ _!" Oliver laughed as he came into the room.__ _ _"Come on,__ _ _littlie__ _ _!" He told her as he caught her mid air and set her on the bed, Myrtle coming in and sitting in her rocking chair. "What story do you want to hear tonight?" Nicole looked around the room at the pictures on the walls, then she came to a decision.__ _ _"Tell me the one where you and__ _ _Aaliyah__ _ _and all of your friends became mermaids!" Oliver's eyes twinkled. They always did that when he was about to tell a story. That was how Nicole knew it was going to be a good one. Then he tapped his chin.__ _ _"Hmm, I might need help telling that one." From behind his back, he pulled out her__ __ _ _doll, that had been sent to him by Harmony, though Drippy claimed it was his idea. "Mr. Drippy, would you like to help me tell the story of how we became mermaids?" Then he pitched his voice so it sounded Welsh. "Well sure thing,__ _ _Ollie-boy__ _ _! Though technically, I was a__ _ _merfairy__ _ _,__ _ _en't__ _ _it though?" Nicole laughed and reached out and grabbed for the doll, then gave it a huge hug.__ _"Now please tell the story!" She exclaimed eagerly. Oliver laughed and nodded._  
 _"Alright, well, we were searching for the Mermaid King's staff so we had to become mermaids..."_

"Goodbye, Phil! I'll see you tomorrow!" Oliver called as he entered his house, then shut the door behind him, looking around his living room. Nicole wasn't there as usual. She was hardly in the living room when he came home.  
"Nicole! I'm home!" he called up the stairs.  
"I'll be down in a minute!" She called back. He sighed, then went into the kitchen where Myrtle was making dinner. He snuck up behind her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She jumped a little, then she saw him.  
"Oliver!" She scolded playfully. "Don't scare me like that!" He laughed and looked out the back door window. "Nobody's coming for dinner tonight, Oliver. Sam had to work late tonight and Grant and Dad still hasn't woken up. Melody and Mom are getting very worried. It's been over a month, and now Melody's been having stomach pains."  
"Stomach pains? That's a bit odd. And with Grant still in coma..." Oliver asked. Myrtle shrugged helplessly.  
"I don't know. I really don't know."  
Oliver sighed and sat at his spot at the table. It'd been a little while since they'd all sat around the table together. It'd been even longer since they'd done it to listen to one of Nichole's letters, since she didn't send any anymore.  
He laughed, then saw his sixteen year old daughter come in the kitchen, and sighed again. Maybe seeing his wife was the same, but his daughter sure wasn't. She definitely wasn't the little girl who would dress up in clothes to suit the other world, sit in front of the fireplace and colour while she waited for Daddy to get home, or to beg for bedtime stories and hug her Mr. Drippy plush.  
She was this big, teenage girl who had covered her long, reddish-brown hair with a black beanie. She wore a black shirt with white sleeves that had black stripes on them and skinny jeans with combat boots. She always had an earbud in and her fingers were permanently stained with paint. She always had some sort of painting project in her room. That was the only good thing about his stories these days. Nichole, or Nicky as she went by now, was always painting things from his stories.  
When they sat down for dinner, Myrtle indicated for Nicky to take out her earbud, which she did grudgingly. The table was uncomfortably silent, so Myrtle decided to break it.  
"So, Nicky. How was school today?"  
"Shitty." She said. Both Oliver and Myrtle gasped at her.  
"Nicky! We do not use that kind of language in this house!" But Oliver, living up to his name as the Pure Hearted One, had a compassionate hand and was curious on the reason.  
"What's wrong at school? Your friends are all there and your teachers like having you in class." Nicky sighed and tossed her hair.  
"Homework sucks, the food taste like crap, and with Kaden in class, what friends do I have?" Oliver and Myrtle exchanged was Denny's son, and they expected them to be good friends.  
"What does Kaden do, sweetie?" Nicky shrugged.  
"He calls me a freak because of Dad's stories, and he's got the whole school treating me like crap." Oliver sighed and put his hand on her shoulder. "Even the teachers give me looks like I'm retarded! Just the other day, my history teacher told me, "Nice job on your last exam! I didn't expect you to do so well, but you always know how to surprise me!" Even he thinks I'm stupid!" Oliver sighed again.  
"Nicole, I know it's tough, but it will get better. You know, when I was younger, I was teased about Ni No Kuni too. People used to think I was crazy when I was walking through Motorville, talking to my friends from Ni No Kuni, but that was because nobody could see them..." Nicky groaned and laid her head on the table, covering her face with her hands.  
"Mooooom... He's doing it again." Oliver was a little confused.  
"What do you mean?" Nicky sat up and gave him a look.  
"Using your stories as an excuse to say your life sucked as a kid." Oliver shook his head. "And I've told you a thousand times, I prefer to just be called Nicky!"  
"Nicole, don't you remember the stories? You used to love them when you were a kid!" She nodded.  
'Yeah, when I was a _kid_! Keyword there, Dad! I'm fifteen now! Tell me a real story! Like..." She looked around for a minute, then looked at her mother. "Tell me about how you met Mom!" Oliver smiled with that familiar twinkle in his eye, signifying that this story was going to be a good one.  
"Well, before I met your mother, she was called Starey Mary. That was because, Grandpa Rusty had his heartbroken, and it was an effecting the whole-" Nicky slammed her hands down.  
"Oh my god! Stop! I don't want to hear another word!" Oliver jumped back, startled. She had never interrupted one of his stories before. "I don't want to hear another word about the Great Sages, or Al Mamoon, or Esther, or any other of your stupid imaginary friends that you made up when Grandma Alicia died because you couldn't handle it!"  
"Nicole..." Myrtle said in a warning tone, but Nicky was done. She banged her hands on the table again and stood to her feet, her chair falling back behind her.  
"No, Mom! I'm done! If Dad wants to believe that his stupid stories are real, he can! But I am fifteen! I understand! Grandma Alicia died of a heart attack, so he made up a bunch of friends! Doesn't mean he has to force that belief onto me! Because that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard of!" She glared at Oliver, then spoke in a low voice. "There comes a time when every little girl has to grow up. It's my turn." Then she stomped upstairs.  
"Nicole, wait..." Oliver called.  
"ITS NICKY!" She shouted, then a door slammed.  
"Give her some time, dear." Myrtle told Oliver. "She's just at that age."  
Upstairs, Nicky flopped onto her bed, careful of the low ceiling over it. She was so sick of hearing of those stories. She looked up and saw her Mr. Drippy doll, sitting on a shelf, next a box labeled Ni No Kuni drawings. She stomped over and knocked the shelf down, sending the drawings inside flying and out the open window. She glared sulkily at the window, then scoffed.  
"I don't care anymore!" She shouted, as if the doll was going to protest. Then she saw her painting easel. Painting was one of her passions, and one of her favourite things to do was to paint what she thought things from Ni No Kuni looked like. This was one was of the Fairygrounds. It was beautiful, like a pure version of Tombstone Trail. She went over and gave it a huge kick, knocking the easel down and putting a hole through the canvas. Then she sat back on the bed and sobbed. "Why can't he just be normal? I just wish he would stop telling those damned stories."  
"Perhaps I can help." A slinky voice said. She looked around, but saw no one.  
"What the hell?" She muttered.  
"You want your father's silly silly stories to stop, don't you?" Nicky nodded, still looking.  
"Yeah, of course I do. But where are you?"  
"I'm here, my dear. I'm here to help you." Then a shadow on the wall she had thought was her curtain melted off the wall, down onto the floor, and creepy man appeared from it. Nicky stumbled and fell back.  
"Nicole? Are you alright?" Myrtle called from downstairs.  
"Y-yeah, Mom. Just tripped." She called back. Then she said, "who're you?" He waved away the question.  
"Names. Only labels. Unlike what I can do for you." She furrowed her eyebrows. "I can grant that wish. Make your father stop telling his silly silly stories." Her eyes widened.  
"Really? How?" She imagined how normal he would be without his stories. How less of a loser she would be!  
"Nicole? Can I come in?" She heard her dad's voice outside the door, but she ignored it as the dark man held out his hand to her.  
"Just shake my hand, and your wish is granted." She quickly took it and shook it, and a blinding green light exploded from their joined hands, the man laughing darkly. She tried to pull away as a chain wrapped itself around her wrist.  
"Let me go!" She shouted, desperate. "Dad! Help!"

 **PHH**

Downstairs, Oliver was sitting in a chair in the living room, the TV tuned to the news, but he was hardly paying attention. He was thinking of how to reform for Nicole. He could hear her yelling, the crashing sound of her easel, then silence. He decided that she had calmed down, and maybe he could talk to her without mentioning Ni No Kuni. He went upstairs and knocked softly on the door.

"Nicole? Can I come in?" He asked. No answer, but there was a much deeper voice, then a bright green light exploded underneath of the door. "Nicole! Nicole, what's happening in there?" He called, worried.

"Dad! Help!" She screamed. That was enough for him! He ran to his room and grabbed Astra from his bedside drawer, then ran into Nicky's room, where a dark man had her hand and a chain was wrapping itself around her wrist. She looked to him, tears in her eyes. "Daddy! Please! Help me!" She begged. He created the Mornstar symbol and blasted it at the man.

"Mornstar!" He shouted, and the man went flying against the wall. Then he ran over to Nicky and wrapped his arm around her, holding her close like she was a baby. "It's alright, sweetie. I've got you." The dark man stood to his feet, and to their surprise, smiled when he saw Oliver.

"So, you're the Pure Hearted One. How nice to meet you." Oliver pointed Astra at him. "Oh please, there's no need for that." Then the dark man cast Fell Wind, sending Nicky flying away from him, then chains shot out from the dark man's hands, wrapping themselves around Oliver!

"Dad!" Nicky cried, picking up the dropped wand and pointing it at the dark man, who cackled.

"Please! Child, you hardly know how to use such a formidable wand!" Then he disappeared, taking Oliver with him.


	3. Chapter 3

Myrtle came running in, to find Nicky had fallen to her knees, the room a mess, Oliver nowhere to be seen. She ran over and knelt beside her daughter, fear filling her heart.  
"Nicky? Nicky, what happened?" Nicky just stared at a black spot on the carpet, like a shadow, but not a shadow. "Nicky! What happened?"  
"He took him." She said slowly. Myrtle was confused.  
"Who took who, sweetie?" Nicky looked at her, the colour gone from her face.  
"Dad. He took Dad! Some evil, dark looking man, he took Dad!" Myrtle gasped.  
"Oh my! Where'd he go? Out the window?" She asked. Nicky shook her head.  
"No! He just vanished! Into thin air!" She looked back at the spot. "Like... magic." Myrtle gasped, then sighed.  
"I knew this day would father warned me this day was coming, but I didn't believe him." Then she stood and ran to her and Oliver's bedroom. Nicky followed her, picking up Astra from the floor.  
"Mom? Mom, what day?" Myrtle didn't answer her, She ran over to Oliver's bedside table and reached in, pulling out a brown book with a blue jewel in the centre and a small brown bag. Nicky recognised the book at once.  
"The Wizard's Companion." She said softly. Then she looked at the bag. "And this must be the Bottomless Bag." Myrtle nodded.  
"Your father said he was going to take you to Ni No Kuni to learn magic some day, and to meet his friends, but as you can see, that day might not come." Nicky's eyes widened, then she looked determined.  
"Mom, I've got a plan. I'm going to Ni No Kuni, I'm going to find Dad, and then I'm bringing him home!" Myrtle's eyes widened.  
"

Go to Ni No Kuni? By yourself? Nicky, that's incredibly dangerous!"  
"Dad did it." She said. "Dad went into that world and came back completely unscathed." Myrtle looked crestfallen.  
"Nicky, your father was never alone in that world. He had Mr. Drippy the whole way. You don't have any one with you." Nicky shook her head.  
"I don't care! This is my fault! I'm going to get Dad!" Myrtle sighed, then nodded.  
"Alright. Just, be careful. From what I've heard, Ni No Kuni is a wonderful place, but it's also very dangerous to be in." Nicky nodded, then took the bag and the book from her mother.  
"Don't worry, Mom. I'll be okay. If Dad could do it when he was ten, I can do it at fifteen." Then she flipped to the Gateway spell in the Wizard's Companion, created the symbol, and cast the spell. When she opened her eyes, she found herself in the middle of a field. The grass looked dead though, and the sky looked like fire. That was when she heard thumping, and huge creatures came running at her! She screamed and ducked her head as the Ulk ran over her. When they were gone, she stood, and looked around.  
"Well, that's one way to start an adventure." She muttered to herself. Then she heard a dark laughter, and turned to see that man! She pointed Astra at him.  
"You! You took my dad!" The man grinned.  
"Yes, I did. I stopped his story telling. So why are you here?"  
"I want him back! I want to call the deal off!"  
"Tsk tsk tsk. Can't do that dearie. Not while, that's on." he pointed to the chain around Nicky's wrist. She looked at it, still trying to get it off.  
"What the hell is this? Why won't it come off?" She asked. He cackled.  
"You see, that chain, is our deal. With that chain, I get to keep your father with me. Turn him against you." He leaned in close. _"Steal his power."_ Nicky gasped.  
"No! I don't want this! I hated that my dad embarrassed me, but I don't want him gone!"  
"Enough!" The man shouted. "The chain breaks, the deal's off! Until then, why don't you go home? Enjoy your life without him." That was when her hand felt empty, and she looked to see Astra gone!  
"Where's my father's wand?" She demanded, backing up, feeling not as tough without it. Mortui cackled.  
"Gone! You don't get an upperhand so soon in the game!" Then he vanished, cackling. "Oh, and watch out for the Flyers!"  
"Wait! What are the Flyers?" All of a sudden, things, probably bombs, fell out of the sky and exploded around her! She screamed and dodged them, not sure where to go as fire grew around her. All of a sudden, she felt a hand go into her's and she looked up and saw a boy with black hair.  
"Run!" then he dragged her towards the forest, dodging the fire.  
"Wait! We can't go to the forest! The trees will burn!" She shouted. The boy turned around as he ran.  
"The Flyers only hit what they can see! If they can't see you, they'll assume you're dead! Now C'MON!" Then he dragged her into the forest just as one more bomb almost hit them. They watched as the Flyers flew away, panting hard.  
"Thank you." Nicky said to the boy. "If you hadn't been there, I might not have been able to get out of there." The boy shrugged.  
"Don't sweat it." Then the boy smacked her upside the head!  
"Ow!" She shouted, looking at him in shock. "What was that for?"  
"Are you as stupid as the Flyers!?" He shouted at her. "Anybody out in the open gets caught by Daimon or Mortui and gets thrown in prison!" Then he sighed. "Are you with the Resistance?" She tilted her head.  
"What's the Resistance?" He raised his eyebrows.  
"Ha ha, very funny. Everyone knows about the Resistance." She got into his face.  
"Well, I don't, obviously." He smirked.  
"Really? So then, what were you doing out in the middle of the Rolling Hills? Everyone knows about the Flyers and stays out of the Hills to avoid them." she shrugged.  
"I'm not exactly from around here." He raised his eyebrows.  
"Not from here? The Flyers are everywhere! The Rolling Hills, the Shimmering Sands, the Iron Pig Plains, everywhere! Where could you be from that doesn't have Flyers or where you couldn't here about the Resistance?"  
"Another world?" She said. He raised his eyebrows even higher. "It's true! I'm here to save my dad!" He crossed his arms.  
"There's nobody here that could be from another world that could be your dad! The only person whose from another world around here is Queen Aaliyah. The last guy who was here was-"  
"The Pure Hearted One, Oliver?" She inquired. The boy gasped.  
"The Savour is here!?" She nodded. "Praise the Ancients!" Then he saw her face. "Wait, you said your from another world, the Savour is here, and you're here to save your dad. So that means..." She nodded.  
"The Savour is my dad, and he can't save the world. Not yet. I have to save him first." The boy raised an eyebrow again.  
"You're the Pure Hearted One's kid? And you're here to save him? Nice try." She put her hands on her hips, having about enough of this boy.  
"It's the truth! Otherwise, I wouldn't be here!" The boy looked her up and down.  
"Well, you're definitely dressed funny. And you look like how my dad described the Pure Hearted One." She looked at her clothes, then groaned.  
"You know what? I don't have time for this! I've got to get my hands on another wand, then go and save my dad!" Then she turned to stomp off, but the boy had one last thing to say.  
"Hey! Do you even know where you're going?" She stopped, and realised she didn't. She groaned again and he laughed. "Come on. I'll take you to Old Father Oak. He might be able to help you out." She sighed and turned back to follow him.  
"Fine. But then I'm gone." He chuckled.  
"Alright then." Then he held out his hand. "I'm Jayden, by the way." She shook his hand.  
"Nicky." They walked in silence for a while, then Nicky decided to break it. "So, you mentioned that your dad described my dad. Who's your dad?"  
"Captain Kublai. King of the Sky Pirates." he told her. Her eyes widened.  
"Really? Then is your mother Queen Khulan?" He nodded. "Where are they? Are they in the forest too?" He shook his head.  
"The only people here in the Deep Dark Wood are the fairies from the Golden Grove and Old Father Oak. My parents were captured by Daimon and turned to stone." Nicky's eyes widened.  
"Oh." She said softly. Then she asked, "So where's everybody else? Are they all turned to stone too?"  
"Not everybody." he told her. "The royals all are, like King Tom, the Cowlipha, Queen Aaliyah, even the chief of Yule and Master Abull. They all got captured. So did Emperor Marcassin, Empress Harmony, and the Great Sage Rashaad. Lot's of people who were powerful or just plain helped your dad on his journeys. I hear they've even got the Lord High Lord of the Fairies trapped."  
"Mr. Drippy?" Nicky asked. Even her best friend as a child had been captured? Jayden nodded.  
"But some of them haven't been captured." he told her. "I heard Captain Swan had disappeared over two years ago. Nobody knows where she is, but I'm sure she's okay. She's pretty tough. Everyone in Ding Dong Dell's been gone since King Tom got captured and the rats' took over and Al Mamoon is destroyed, so nobody's there either. Hamelin's back in the state it was with the White Witch, but Prince Swaine's not been captured. From what I've picked up hanging around the Senfanists, I hear he's with the Resistance. I even hear Empress Harmony got away from Daimon with a stone foot and her hands tied behind her back."  
"So, where's Esther?" Nicky asked.  
"I heard she got eaten by a serpent." Jayden told her, and she gasped.  
"Oh." Then they were silent again as they walked, until there was a roar. "Jayden? What was that?" She asked, him pulling out a sword.  
"Just be quick. We need to get to Old Father Oak." Then he led her deeper into the forest, and she hugged her bag close, looking nervously around her. She looked through the Wizard's Companion, and found that she was in the Deep Dark Woods. This has been one of the more scary stories.  
 _"And he was really big, with trees growing out of his back, and yellow eyes."_ _Oliver_ _had_ _said_ _. "_ _And_ _his_ _roar_ _was_ _something_ _else_ _!"_ _Then_ _he_ _would_ _impersonate_ _the_ _Guardian_ _of_ _the_ _Woods'_ _roar_ _. Nicky_ _would_ _squeal_ _,_ _making_ _Myrtle_ _jump_ _in_ _the_ _rocking_ _chair_ _._  
 _" Goodness, Oliver! You scared the poor girl out of her wits!" Myrtle told him, but both he and Nicky were laughing. She loved to be scared like that!_  
"Wait! Jayden." He turned around.  
"What is it?"  
"What happened to the Guardian? Is he protecting these woods?" Jayden shook his head.  
"I'm afraid not. If anything, we have to careful of him. Mortui cursed him to protect the woods from intruders who were against him and the Senfanist."  
"The Senfanist?" She asked.  
"I'll tell you later. Right now, we need to find Old Father Oak. Because right now, he's the real guardian right now. He and the fairies." Then they heard rumbling. Nicky held out her wand towards the noise.  
"Was that...?" Jayden nodded.  
"C'mon." He grabbed her hand again and they ran through the woods, Nicky tripping over everything. Then they saw it. The huge beast himself appeared, roaring.  
"Run!" Jayden pulled her along as they ran through the forest. She stared at the huge monster.  
"Dad really underestimated his roar!" She shouted. All of a sudden, Jayden's hand slipped from her's and she tripped, falling right onto a rock and busting her chin. She put her hand to her chin and kept running, trying not cry. With tears blurring her vision, she had even more trouble running.  
"Jayden!" She screamed, listening to the roar of the Guardian. Then she remembered! Her wand! She pulled the Wizard's Companion out from her bag and flipped through it until she saw the Fireball spell. She ducked behind a tree, formed the spell and aimed it the Guardian. She hit it spot on, but it fought back.  
"Nicky, look out!" She heard Jayden yell, but it was too late. The guardian hit her and she fell, unconscious.


	4. Chapter 4

"C'mon! Old Father Oak is just up ahead..." Jayden turned around and saw that Nicky was gone. "What the hell?"  
"Jayden!" Then a roar. He liked around and noticed there was a drop of blood on his arm. "Oh crap!" He ran back and watched as she threw a fiery spell at the Guardian. The beast stumbled back, then hit her, knocking her against a tree and knocking her out. Jayden quickly shimmied up a tree and threw a rock as hard as he could, distracting the Guardian, who ran in that direction. Jayden ran as fast as he could over to Nicky, whose chin was bleeding and she was covered in dirt. He sighed, then tossed her wand into her backpack that had come off, threw it over his shoulder, then lifted her up bridal style and ran as fast as he could. When he got close to reaching Old Father Oak, a bunch of fairies ran over.  
"Oi! It's Jaydie-boy!"  
"How you doing, mun?"  
"Oi, Jaydie-boy! Whose she?"  
"Did you find youerself a girlfriend?"  
"It's 'bout time, Jaydie-boy! You're a young lad!" Jayden grunted as he slipped off the backpack and tossed it to a fairy called Sappy.  
"Sappy, take that over by Old Father Oak. She's heavy enough!" Then he turned to one called Merry. "Merry, can you let Old Father Oak we'll need one of his healing spells? She's all busted up." Merry nodded then ran off. Sappy, the smallest fairy, stayed close.  
"Hey, Jaydie-boy! Who is she?"  
"I'll tell you later." He said. "Can you get the barrier?" Sappy nodded, then knocked on the air. Immediately, a gold dome appeared and the two of them walked inside of it. That was the only thing that protecting Old Father Oak and the fairies. The tree himself had created the dome, which had wore him out really bad. So healing spells were really limited.  
"Who, goes, there?"  
"Oh relax, it's only me." Jayden grumbled. Old Father Oak smiled a weak smile.  
"Welcome back Jayden. Have you found the Resistance Island yet?" Jayden shook his head.  
"No, not yet. I know where it is, I just need to get to it." He lay Nicky up against Old Father Oak, who if he could would have jumped. He was usually so tired, his eyes were about half closed and Jayden had placed her just out the old tree's sight.  
"Oh my! What was that?"  
"A friend of mine. I found her in the Rolling Hills." Old Father Oak opened his eyes as Merry took one of his healing leaves. That was his healing spell.  
"Her? A girl?" Jayden rolled his eyes.  
"Don't start! She was getting attacked by the Flyers." At the touch of the cold leaf, Nicky's eyes flew open and she pushed Jayden away, but he reached up and pushed her hands down.  
"Stop, it's okay. It's only me." He said. She panted and winced as he lay the lead back on her chin. "Leave it there. It'll stop the bleeding real quick." She looked around, holding the lead to her chin.  
"Where are we?" She asked. He grinned.  
"The small bit of the Resistance." He said. "Meet the fairies of the Golden Grove, now residing in the Deep Dark Wood." She looked around, and sure enough, there were a bunch of fairies around her. She giggled.  
"Hello." She said. The fairies all stared at her. "What's the matter?" One of the fairies stepped up.  
"Most of these guys are littlies. They ain't ever seen a human before." Sappy came up.  
"I saw a human before! They saved me inside of Mam's tummy!" Nicky stared at the small fairy.  
 _"Were the littlies very cute?" Nicky asked Oliver._  
 _"They looked like eggs! But they were pretty adorable. Swaine thought that they were annoying, though." Nicky's eyes widened._  
 _"What did he say?"_  
 _"He said, 'God, they're so annoying? How do we get rid of them?' Harmony punched him in the shoulder for that."_  
"You, met Oliver?" Nicky asked. Sappy nodded.  
"Yeah! He was really nice!" Nicky sighed.  
"I can't see your face, but I know that sigh." Said Old Father Oak. Nicky squeaked and jumped up.  
"What was that!?" She asked. Jayden laughed and led her to a spot where Old Father Oak could see her.  
"Nicky, meet Old Father Oak." She gasped and covered her mouth. The old tree smiled.  
"Well, I'd recognise that face anywhere." He said. "The blue eyes, the red hair, even the clothes. You looked just like Oliver." She blushed and smiled.  
"He's my father, sir." She mumbled. The fairies all gasped around her.  
"You're Ollie-boy's littlie?" Asked Merry. She nodded.  
"Yes, and I'm here to save him." If he could have, Old Father Oak would have raised an eyebrow.  
"Really? What happened?" She looked down.  
"He was taken by Mortui. It was all my fault." Sappy came over and put a hand on her ankle. Jayden looked at the sun.  
"We'd better rest here for the night. The night is more dangerous than the day." She nodded, then Jayden turned to Old Father Oak. "Do you mind if I make a campfire, Old Father Oak?" The tree frowned.  
"I'd prefer not, but since the night is cold, I'll allow it." Jayden made a campfire and the two of them sat at it surrounded by the fairies. As the dusk turned to night and they were illuminated by the fire, Sappy came over and noticed something glinting on Nicky's wrist.  
"What's that?" he asked. Nicky tugged her sleeve down.  
"It's nothing." She said quickly, but Jayden wasn't convinced. He went over, grabbed her arm, and yanked her wrist down, seeing Mortui's chain. His face twisted with anger.  
"What the hell!? This is one of Mortui's Deal Chains!" He shouted. He looked at her terrified face. "Why the hell are you wearing one of Mortui's Deal Chains!?" She stood up.  
"I told you, it was my fault! I made a deal with Mortui! I told him I wanted a normal father and he tricked me! He said he would get my dad to stop telling the stupid stories!" Jayden glared.  
"Are you serious!? Why would you want your dad to change!?" She looked at the ground.  
"I just wanted the stories to stop. People always called him crazy or weird and I wanted it to stop." Jayden threw her wrist down and went back to his seat on the other side of the fire.  
"We'd better get some rest. We have a long way to go. We'll find the Resistance, then go save your dad. If anybody can do it, it'll be the Resistance." Nicky nodded, and she laid down beside the fire, feeling her back get warm, but shivered as she closed her eyes. There certainly was a long way to go.


	5. Chapter 5

Nicky woke up the next morning, looked around, and sighed.  
"And I was hoping I was dreaming." She said. Then she noticed that Jayden was asleep still. So she quickly packed up all of the things from the Bottomless Bag, leaving out the Wizard's Companion. Jayden said that Mortui was in Hamelin. She'd need the map to head there.  
That was when she found a stick with a green gem at the end. It was simple, but she recognised it immediately.  
 _"Daddy! Tell me about time you met the big cat king!" Nicky begged her father at five. He laughed._  
 _"Wait here one "_ _meowment_ _", my_ _littlie_ _." He told her. Then he left her room and came back with a stick that had a green gem on the end. "This is the wand that King Tom gave me. Before this, I only had a stick, from the Sky Tree of_ _Nazcaa_ _itself."_  
This was King Tom's wand! "I'd better hold onto this." She whispered to herself, then packed everything else up, and left the Deep Dark Wood, not waking anybody else up. Or so she thought. As she walked into the Rolling Hills, she ran as fast as she could, trying to avoid the Flyers.  
"Oi, Nicky-girl! Mind slowing down? You're shaking me up!" Called a Welsh voice from the Bottomless Bag. Nicky pulled it off and opened it up to see Sappy sitting inside!  
"Sappy! What are you doing in there?" She asked, pulling him out. Sappy hopped onto the ground, grinning.  
"I'm here to help you out! Since you left Jaydie-boy behind!" Nicky shook her head as she continued walking.  
"I didn't leave him behind. I was trying to save his life! I'm probably going to get into a lot of trouble and danger, and I don't want anybody getting hurt because of me! And that includes you! Go back!" Sappy shook his head.  
"Nah, mun! I'll bet I'll be a great help! Youer dad had Lord Drippy! It'll be just like that!" Nicky groaned. "Trust me, mun! We can do this! Besides! I know how to get Hamelin! That's where Mortui, the rotter, is at!" Nicky felt a pang in her chest. She remembered that Harmony and Marcassin used to rule Hamelin. She'd liked the idea of the Sage and the Songstress. It had been one of her favourite stories.  
 _"What story would you like to hear today, Nicole?" Oliver asked._  
 _"I want to hear a love story! You always tell stories about the other world! What about a love one?" She asked him, pouting._  
 _"Well it just so happens, I have a love story from the other world." He told her. She grinned. "It's called The Sage and the Songstress." Nicky gasped._  
 _"Harmony and a sage?" She asked. He smiled at her._  
 _"Not just any sage. Prince Marcassin." She giggled._  
 _"No way!" Oliver nodded, looking at her with the twinkle in his eye. "Tell me the story!" He laughed._  
 _"Well, when we got to Hamelin and we fixed_ _Marcassin's_ _heart, we had to stay a few days..."_  
Of all the stories he told, that one was probably her favourite. She'd always hoped to have a love story like that. Now they were both captured.  
"At least they're together." she murmured. She didn't even have her dad with her.  
"What'd you say, Nicky-girl?" Sappy asked.  
"Nothing. I was just thinking of a story my dad told me." Sappy jumped up and sat on her shoulder.  
"I _love_ stories! Lord Drippy always told stories about his adventures with Ollie-boy!" Nicky grinned, feeling a little better.  
"Which one is your favourite? Mine's called The Sage and the Songstress." Sappy grinned.

"Mine was called the Prince's Brother."  
"Was that the one, where they found out Swaine was Marcassin's brother?" Sappy nodded. "That's what Dad called it for me!" The two of them laughed.  
"What was your's about? Lord Drippy never told me one called that."  
"It's about how Prince Marcassin and Harmony fell in love." She told him. He jumped up.  
"He was going to tell me that one! It was a few days before he went to find Thief-face and Esther!" As they talked, they used the bottomless bag to hide themselves, hoping that it made the Flyers think that there was no one there. That was when they heard shouting.  
"Get your smelly, stinking paws off of me, you stupid rats!" called a woman's voice. "Go back to the Ding Dong Hell of a Well where you belong!" Nicky and Sappy dashed behind what appeared to be a massive rib cage and watched as two giant rats walked by, holding a woman's arms. The woman had long black hair, a teal dress with spaghetti straps, and no shoes, but her foot was wrapped with a black rag.

"No way, Pipsqueak!" They told her. She was pretty short. "King Hickory Dock will appreciate the guilders we'll get for your bounty!" The woman struggled some more.  
"I"m a bounty hunt _er_! Not a bounty _hunt_! Now let me go!" But the rats just laughed high pitch squeaky laughs as they entered a gate.  
"Sappy, who was that woman?" Nicky whispered. Sappy's eyes were wide.  
"That was the Songstress, Nicky-girl!" He told her. "She really did escape! I can't believe it!" Nicky gasped.  
"That was the Songstress? Empress Harmony?" Sappy nodded. "But she didn't look very royal at all! Her dress was all torn and her face was dirty! And what Empress would wrap her foot in a rag?" Sappy shook his head.  
"Nicky-girl, you've got to remember! Empress Song-girl wasn't always Empress Song-girl! She used to be Byssy-girl, a witch thief! She always liked the more simple of things, even after she became royalty. And plus, it's not like she has much of a choice! Everybody's been putting up fights and getting dirty! I'm sure she's been in a few scraps, with that bounty over her head!" Nicky looked back at where the rats had taken Harmony.  
"What are they going to do to her?" She asked as they slowly stood up. Sappy shrugged.  
"Probably take her to King Hickory Dock, Nicky-girl. Then he'll trade her in for guilders. Or their safety. Or just their lives in general. Either way, the Songstress is in danger of getting captured by Daimon." Nicky gasped.  
"Then we have to help her!" Sappy jumped up.  
"Go into the Rat King's Kingdom? That's run by loads of giant rats? That's crazy dangerous, mun!" She gave the fairy a look.  
"Sappy, I'm supposed to save my dad, and possibly the world. I've got to start somewhere. And saving Harmony from King Hickory Dock is a good start!" Then she ran towards the gate, just as the two mice came back out and glared at her and Sappy.  
"Uh, hey..." She said slowly, backing up. "So uh, I really need to get in there to see your king, if that's okay..." the mice pointed their spears at her and Sappy."Ah!" She yelped.  
"Crikey!" Sappy exclaimed.  
"Any humans caught inside of the Rat King's Kingdom must answer to King Hickory Dock and spend as many years as he pleases in his dungeon!" Both the fairy and the girl squeaked as the spears got closer. "Now leave!"  
"Halt!" They heard another squeaky, smaller, voice say. They looked and saw a small mouse with brown hair and red glasses. "These squeaklings snuck into the Rat King's Kingdom! I caught them sneaking over the wall! I'm here to take them to King Hickory Dock!" The two mouseketeers bowed.  
"Our apologies, Pip. Take them to justice." The small mouse, Pip, pushed at Sappy and kicked Nicky's ankles.  
"Move it, squeaklings!" He shouted. Nicky and Sappy looked at each other, but followed Pip's orders and walked into what was once Ding Dong Dell, now a dump. There was chewed, pretty much everything all over, dirty, ugly mice laying around with half eaten food. Nicky wretched, then looked nervously at Pip.  
"Where are you taking us?" She asked him. Sappy jumped up.  
"You rotten, dirty rat had better let us go! Or else I'll-!" Pip slapped a hand over Sappy's mouth, then pointed down a staircase.  
"Follow me." he whispered, then he went down the and Sappy exchanged looks again, then followed him. He led them down into a cell door and into a dark tunnel. Nicky looked around nervously, picking her way through the muck.  
"Where are we?" She asked Pip.  
"Ding Dong Well." He told them softly, leading them down another corridor, where Nicky saw a light. "The current home of the people of Ding Dong Dell." When they came up to the light, Nicky gasped. The light was coming from a campfire! And the camp was filled with people and grimalkins! Men, women, children, tiny babies, little kittens, and the elderly, all gathered around a big campfire, tents made of sheets and blankets, big baskets stacked up in a gasped  
"

Oh my god." She whispered. "What's happened to them?"  
"King Hickory." Pip told them. "When Daimon came and catnapped King Tom,, the people began to panic. All the rats came running and threw them out. It was terrible! A bunch of them got taken by the Flyers! Finally, I led them all down here so there would be some citizens left at all!" That was when a man with a huge blood stained bandage around his arm came over to Pip.  
"Pip, have you got any more food?" He asked, sounding tired. Pip nodded, then gave a sharp whistle. Almost immediately, a Minor Byrde came flying down with a sack in his hand. Nicky jumped.  
"Crikey! Those flipping things are down here too!" Sappy shouted. Pip laughed a little.  
"Don't worry! This is Mim, my familiar. I was out in the Rolling Hills looking for parts for my new Cloudsweeper, and he followed me home! Haven't gotten rid of him since!" The byrde, Mim, flew down to Pip and handed him the sack. Pip opened it up and gave some bread to the man. Then he gasped and pulled out a bottle of milk.  
"Wow! We haven't had milk in forever! Ever since the Cowlipha, The Queen, and Master Abull disappeared and Al Mamoon was taken down, there's been a serious lack of milk and babanas. It really stinks!" Then he pulled out a green bottle, and scurried over to a woman, who had a little girl whose face was the same colour as the stone, and the water was filled with vomit. Nicky felt a little sick herself.  
"What's in that bottle, Sappy?" She asked.  
"That's tonic, Nicky-girl! It's medicine." Nicky then felt someone tug at her jacket, and looked to see a thin little boy looking at her curiously.  
"Excuse me, miss." He said. "Are you a witch?" He pointed at the wand in her hand. Nicky looked at it, thought of her, dad, and nodded.  
"Yeah. I'm a witch." Everyone gasped, looking at her in astonishment. "What?" She asked.  
"Nobody's seen a witch or a wizard for a long time. We thought they all got captured by Daimon." A woman told her.  
"But one escaped! Didn't you hear? The Songstress! She got out!" Nicky told them, trying to bring a little hope to these people and grimalkin's lives.  
"She also got recaptured just a few meowments ago. She'll surely be back at Daimon's mercy again." Said a grimalkin man. Nicky felt her heart drop, then she got an idea.  
"Well that's why we have to save her!" The whole town looked at her in surprise. "Daimon captured them all so that we would all go and hide, and that makes him think he has won! Well, we can't always depend on the magic that people like the Sages, or the Songstress, or even my father, the Pure Hearted One, has! We have to stand up to him! And we can start, with getting the Songstress back from King Hickory Dock!"  
"But how? We don't have any magic." Asked a woman. Nicky looked around, then ran over to the baskets in the corner and dug through them, pulling out cooking knives.  
"We have all the weapons we need right here! After all, my father once told me that a boy called Tommy Stout protected this city from mice with a broom and a cooking pot on his head!" A man with dark hair laughed.  
"I remember that!" He told her. "And I remember Oliver taking my enthusiasm to help King Tom!" Nicky gasped.  
"You're Tommy Stout?" She asked incredulously. He nodded, stood up, walked over to her, and held out his hand to her.  
"Thomas Stout, at your service." She grinned and shook his hand. "And I believe you are right." He looked to the people of Ding Dong Dell. "We've had mice problems for years. What makes this one any different? My mother once told me that the best weapon is the one that you can grab quick! So everyone! Get to grabbing!" The whole town cheered and began to dig for knives and brooms and anything else that could be a potential weapon for them. Nicky also dug through her Bottomless Bag and found loads of familiar weapons and armor, and gave those away, not having a familiar to give them to. When Tommy came over to get something, he smiled at her.  
"Thank you, daughter of Oliver. For helping myself and these people believe again. I guess we just needed a push, huh?" She nodded, smiling.  
'Yeah, I guess so, huh? By the way, my name is Nicky." Then she went to hand him a sword, but he rejected it.  
"If you don't mind, I'd rather have a spear. My Drone Bumbler uses them." Nicky gasped as she dug for a spear.  
"You have a familiar?" She asked him. He nodded, and pulled out a little Drone Bumbler.  
"This is Bee." He told her. "And she's pretty strong. Your father actually conjured her up for me, after I gave him that Thumbelemur and he defeated my Shellraiser in the Solosseum Series. He also told me to stop finding familiars in the woods." Nicky laughed as she handed him a Bee Sting Spear.  
"Here. This one looks like it would suit her." Tommy examined the spear, looking at it approvingly.  
"Very nice. With a three percent chance of poisoning the opponent. Thank you again, Nicky." She smiled and watched as the man and the Drone Bumbler walked away with the spear.  
Soon, everyone felt ready and Nicky gave them a plan.  
"Okay, so there are a lot of rats up there, and of course they're all lead by King Hickory Dock. If we can get rid of him, I'll bet my hat that we can scare them all back down here. So we'll have to come up in minimal numbers because I hear that if you're a human, you'll be tossed to the Flyers. We don't want that, so we'll have to be careful."  
"I know a way to get into the palace through a trapdoor on the roof!" Pip told her. "King Hickory used it to catnap King Tom before!"  
"Perfect!" Then she looked back at the town. "Okay, so what's going to happen. We'll split up into teams. Two teams are going to go down to the palace from the surface. We need someone to guard the palace door so no other mice can get in and help King Hickory Dock. Another team will distract the rats so that those two teams can get to the palace with minimal distractions. Tommy, I want you to lead the surface teams.'" Tommy nodded.  
"I will do my best." Nicky nodded.  
"Another team or two will follow me into the palace. There's bound to be a bunch of rats in there and we'll need to find the Songstress." She turned to Pip. "Pip, you know where King Hickory Dock would keep his prisoners, right?" The mouse nodded.  
"He has a dungeon! I can show you where it is!" She looked back to the people and grimalkins.  
"Okay. I need a team to go with Pip. He will lead you." Then she looked to Sappy. "Sappy, I want you to lead a team in clearing out the castle of any other mice that might be there. I'm going after King Hickory Dock." The town gasped.  
"By yourself? That's incredibly dangerous!" She nodded.  
"I know. But from what my father told me, King Hickory Dock is tough, and I don't want anybody to get too hurt. I'll have a team standing by just in case, but other than that, just focus on the other mice." The townsfolk nodded, and she pumped her fist in the air. "Now let's go get Ding Dong Dell back!" They all cheered, and Tommy made three teams, then led them to the surface. Sappy, Pip, and Nicky made their teams, then they followed Pip down the corridors to a place that was surrounded by walls, but the sun shone down on it.  
"This is where King Hickory fought the Pure Hearted One." Pip told them. Then they began to climb the walls, that led right to the walls of the palace. When they reached the roof, Pip crawled across the roof, knocking on it. "Ah ha!" He pulled on a panel, to reveal a door.  
"Right you lot! Down we go!" Sappy called, jumping through. His team followed him, then Pip lead his team down. Nicky and her small team followed them, and they walked through the halls of the palace, that looked as if they had been grand once, now reduced to trash and chewed carpets.  
"Halt!" shouted a squeaky voice. Nicky and her team turned to see two Mouseketeers, pointing spears at them. "Where do you squeaklings think you're going?" Instead of answering, the townsfolk gathered in front of Nicky, battle ready. "So that's how you want to play? Very well!" Then they began to fight!  
"Nicky, go! Go find King Hickory! We'll get rid of them!" Shouted a woman as she beat a Mouseketeer with her broom. Nicky hesitated, then ran down the hall, where she entered the throne room. And sitting in a huge chair surrounded by shavings and cheese rinds, was King Hickory Dock. He looked up and glared at her.  
"How did you get into my palace!?" He demanded. She held the wand out at him.  
"That doesn't matter. Just hear me out." Hickory Dock sat up and looked thoughtful.  
"I'm listening." She sighed, relieved.  
"Okay, good. Now, I don't want to fight you, but you need to leave Ding Dong Dell! Give their city back to the people and grimalkins!" King Hickory laughed loudly.  
"Never! All the cheese I want! Everything to chew on! An actual bed rather than a rock! I'm never leaving!" Then he jumped up and landed with a thump in front of her. "And if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!" Then he came at her.


	6. Chapter 6

Nicky didn't scream. She didn't run. She just pulled out the Wizard's companion and flipped through it as fast as she could, then shot a Fireball at Hickory Dock. It singed his fur, doing a little bit of damage. He came running over and whacked her with his staff, her defending, but it lasting only so long. She flipped through some more, until she found a pretty powerful looking spell. Arrow of Light. She shot it at the giant rat, and he went down, giving her a chance. She went in, low on magic already with that move and beat him with her wand.  
"Oi! Nicky-girl!" She heard Sappy's voice call as Hickory Dock stood back up.  
"Puny squeaklings will not defeat me so easily!" She scoffed.  
"You think that was easy?" Then she felt her magic go up, and saw that Sappy had given her a blue glim! She did another Fireball, then a Frostbite. The Rat King, having grown fat and losing his ability to move as fast as he used to, fell easily. She went up and got in his face.  
"Now leave." She growled. He grumbled, but he nodded.  
"Alright, you can have your precious city back." Then he left the palace, heading for Ding Dong Well. Sappy and her team came running in, chasing a load of Mouseketeers out. Then they turned to her.  
"Ding Dong Dell belongs to you again." She told them. The people and grimalkins cheered.  
"We have our city back!" shouted a man. "Thank you Nicky!" She smiled, then she remembered.  
"The Songstress!" Sappy jumped.  
"That's right! I saw Pip and his team run down this way! Follow me, mun!" Then they both ran as fast as they could, until they reached a dark dungeon, very similar to Ding Dong Well. When they found the other team, they found them scratching their heads around a cell the cell, the Songstress stood, watching them, unable to help.  
"Nicky!" Pip called when he saw her. 'It won't open!" The Songstress turned her head at them. Nicky flipped through the Wizard's Companion.  
"Here! This spell might work!" Then she cast Spring Lock on the cell door, and it popped open. The Songstress herself gasped and looked at Nicky in surprise.  
"You can do magic?" Nicky nodded.  
"A little. I'm Nicky." She held out her hand, and the rather short woman shook it.  
"Harmony. Are you with the Resistance?" Nicky shook her head, and Harmony sighed. Then she tilted her head. "You know, you look a lot like a friend of mine." Nicky nodded.  
"Oliver, right?" She asked. Harmony nodded. "He's my father. I'm here to save him." Harmony gasped.  
"Oliver needs saving? What happened?" Nicky told her about Mortui, and Harmony made a disgusted sound and looked at the ground.  
"That dirty, no good, scoundrel! It's just like him to take Oliver!" Then she looked back at Nicky. "Nicky, allow me to come with you to save him." Nicky's eyes widened.  
"You want to come with me? But it's going to be incredibly dangerous!" Harmony shook her head.  
"I'm sure I've been in scrapes a bit worse. And besides, it might help me on my own quest." As they began to walk out of the dungeon, they continued to talk.  
"What's your quest?" Nicky asked her.  
"I'm looking for the Resistance." Harmony told her. "My brother in law, Swaine, is with them, and I'm determined to join them to help them defeat Mortui and Daimon." Nicky tilted her head.  
"Who is Daimon, anyway? I've heard a lot about him, but I really don't know who he his."  
"Daimon is the creep that Mortui works for." Harmony told her. "He's like a super Senfanist or something. Every Senfanist has the power to turn you to stone, but only he can turn your whole body to stone with a single shot." Nicky shuddered.  
"Gosh. I hope I can defeat him if I have to." Harmony nodded.  
"We all do."  
When they got out of the palace and went into the square, they found all of the people of Ding Dong Dell cheering.  
"Look! There she is! That's our saviour!" One man shouted, pointing at Nicky.  
"Let's hear it for the Daughter of the Pure Hearted One! Nicky!" Tommy Stout called, standing on a fountain. The whole town cheered and Nicky felt her cheeks turn red. She'd saved a whole town! A little girl came running up to her.  
"Here, Mama said to give this to you." She said to Nicky, and held up a black dress. "So that you don't stick out as much as another worlder." Nicky smiled and took the dress.  
"Thank you. I"ll put this on when I get the chance."  
They stayed in Ding Dong Dell for the night, and the next morning, Pip came up to them as they prepared to leave, Nicky with the dress on under her beanie, her leather jacket, and her boots that had changed into black flats.  
"Nicky! Here!" He gave a sharp whistle, and Mim came flying over. "You can take Mim. If I need him, I just whistle, but you could really use him." Nicky eyes widened as the Minor Byrde flew into her heart.  
"But Pip, I can't take him. He's your familiar!" Pip shook his head.  
"Nah, it's alright. Mice shouldn't really have byrdes for familiars anyway. Not the safest thing in the world, ya know?" Nicky nodded.  
"Thank you, Pip. I promise, I'll take good care of him." As they walked towards the Golden Grove, Nicky let Mim out again and let him fly around a little. Harmony gave a whistle.  
"A Minor Byrde. And he'll be ready to metamorphose soon enough." Sappy looked at her.  
"You can tell?" Harmony nodded.  
"He's big and strong, level fourteen I believe. He's been ready for a little while. Since level twelve." Nicky looked at Mim as he flew around, a little confused.  
"How can you tell?" She asked. Harmony reached up and Mim landed on her finger. Then she pointed at his wings and his feet.  
"See how he twitches? He's anxious. He's gotten too good for his own kind and his ready to join the next level. You can just tell." Both Sappy and Nicky gasped.  
"That's so cool! How'd you learn that?" Nicky asked her excitedly. Harmony laughed.  
"Esther showed me! That's how I made sure Purrcy metamorphosed to his final form!" Then her smile fell. "Esther knew a lot about familiars." Nicky patted Harmony's shoulder, remembering what Jayden had said about Esther being eaten by a serpent.  
"I'm sorry that she's gone." Harmony sighed and shrugged.  
"It's just something I have to let go. It's hard, but I have to do it." She told Nicky. Nicky called Mim back and they walked in silence. When they reached the Golden Grove, they heard fighting, then a yell.  
"Ow!" A dark laughter.  
"Stupid, magicless mortal thinks that he can save his parents!" Said a high pitched voice. It was high, but it seemed like it go low at the same time.  
"Those are Senfanists' voices!" Sappy said. "I heard them before when they took over the Golden Grove, I did!"  
"Where are they!? What has Daimon done to them!?" Demanded a familiar voice angrily.  
"Sappy, that's Jayden!" Nicky exclaimed. "He might need help!" Harmony ran towards the forest.  
"Then let's go!" The three of them ran in, to see Jayden being attacked by a wolf and a tiger! His lip was bleeding and his coat had been torn.  
"Jayden!" Nicky called, shooting a Fireball at the tiger, who yowled.  
"Need a hand?" Sappy asked. Jayden scowled at them.  
"It's about time you two showed up! After leaving me behind!" Then he was hit with a magic move, and went down, all looked at the two Senfanists, who glared at them.  
"Magicless mortals should not engage themselves in battle!" The tiger snarled. Harmony scoffed.  
"Who said that I was magicless?" Then she sent out a familiar! It was a Tokotoko!  
"Tokiono! Splish Splash the tiger!' The Tokotoko did just that, and the tiger snarled at her,  
"You must be the Songstress! The one that escaped from Daimon." The wolf growled. Harmony switched familiars to a cat with a gold sword.  
"Purrcy! Attack!" She called. The cat went after the two. Nicky pulled the Wizard's Companion and threw a Frostbite at the tiger woman, who yowled again.  
"Oh, you stupid, magic brat!" then she came at her, but Nicky hit her with the wand, canceling the action and giving her a chance. So she hit the tiger woman with two more Frostbites and a Fireball, and the tiger went unconscious.  
"Gah!" Harmony shouted from the wolf hitting 'her with a move called Wolf's Howl, hurting her ears.  
"Harmony!" Nicky threw an Arrow of Light at the wolf, and he went down, already pretty weak. The wolf sat up and growled at her.  
"You just wait. Mortui won't be so easy going on you!" Then he nudged the tiger woman, waking her, and they both ran into the forest. Nicky ran over to Jayden and pulled out a tonic that Pip had given her, then gave it to Jayden. When Jayden came too, he glared at her.  
"And I was hoping I was dreaming." then he stood up and began to walk away.  
"Hey, Jaydie-boy! A proper thank you is in order, mun!" Sappy called to him. Jayden scoffed.  
"A thank you? I had everything under control before you lot came in!" Harmony scoffed back.  
"Under control? You were unconscious that whole time! If it weren't for us, you'd be a dead man!" Jayden stepped up to her."Those Senfanist would tear you limb from limb!"  
"What do you even know of battle? You don't look like someone who fights!"  
"Quite a bit, actually." she snarled. "Seeing as I'm the Songstress. And I had run most of my life." Jayden's eyes widened and he looked the Songstress up and down.  
"Impossible." She nodded.  
"Oh, it's possible." His eyes fell to the rag around her foot, then looked back at up Harmony.  
"Is it true? Your foot?" She nodded. Sappy gasped.  
"I didn't even notice, mun! Clean forgot, I had!" Nicky looked between the three.  
"What's true? What didn't you notice?"  
"Show her." Jayden told Harmony. Harmony sighed, but she sat down on a nearby rock and unwrapped her foot, to reveal crumbling stone! Her big toe had broken off completely, her heel was cracking, and her arch had a hole in it! Nicky gasped.  
"Your foot! It's completely made of stone!" Harmony nodded.  
"While Daimon managed to entirely encase Marcassin, Khulan, and Rashaad in stone, I was lucky enough to get out of there with my foot." She looked down at her foot again. "Well, half of it."  
"Harmony, you should have said!" Nicky told her. Harmony shrugged.  
"I was fine. It didn't hurt, just made it harder to walk. As it crumbles more, the easier it gets."  
"Until youer down to an ankle!" Sappy told her. She gave him a look.  
"Well then I get a cane, now don't I?" She told him, covering it back up with the black rag. "And my foot is not the largest concern. Our main concern is to stop Mortui and get Oliver back."  
"The best way to do that would be to find the Resistance." Jayden told her. "We wouldn't be able to defeat him on our own." Nicky crossed her arms.  
"What? Now you're joining us?" Jayden nodded.  
"I told you before, I was joining you. Then you abandoned me in the Deep Dark Wood. I tried to follow your trail. Didn't think that you were so stupid as to go into Ding Dong Dell, so I decided to meet you in the Shimmering Sands." Nicky rolled her eyes.  
"For the record, Mr. Sky Pirate, I actually did go into Ding Dong Dell and defeated King Hickory Dock. The people of Ding Dong Dell are currently rebuilding and putting everything back in place." Jayden's eyes widened.  
"Seriously?" He looked to Sappy and Harmony, and they both nodded. "Okay, I'll admit, that's pretty impressive." Then he shook his head. "But I'd still like to join you. I feel like this is an adventure worth a sky pirate." Nicky sighed, then nodded.  
"Alright. You can come with us." Then they began walking again.  
"Be careful, Nicky-girl!" Sappy warned her nervously. "It wasn't only them Senfanists that chased us fairies out. The Gladiataur was pretty terrifying himself, he was!" Nicky nodded.  
"I can imagine." She said, rubbing her chin and feeling the scar that she had gotten. The Healing Leaf had closed the wound, but couldn't avoid the scar. The Golden Grove was eerily quiet, and no one spoke a word. Everyone was tense because of the Gladiataur.  
"Where are all of the familiars? Dad said that the forest was teeming with life."  
"It used to be, Nicky-girl." Sappy told her sadly. "But since those Senfanists came in and corrupted the Gladiataur, everything fled! Even the familiars! We're pretty safe, as long as we don't run into the Gladiataur" That was when they heard a roar.  
"Then I suggest we keep moving." Harmony muttered. Soon, they reached the other side, where they saw that the Spring of Life was filled with muck and practically dry. Nicky swore she could see steam coming from Sappy's tulips.  
"Those dirty, rotten, beasts! They've destroyed the Spring of Life! I oughta give them a piece of my mind!" Nicky quickly grabbed him by the antennas before he tried to run off.  
"Whoa whoa whoa! Relax Sappy! We will get our revenge! But picking fights with Senfanists is not the way to do it." Sappy grunted, but nodded.  
"Alright." Then they heard a roar, and the Guardian of the Golden Grove came at them with his sword.  
"Defend!" Nicky shouted and they did as he came over and slashed at them with the sword.  
"It's the Gladiataur!" Jayden shouted.  
"We're going to have fight him if we want to get out of here!" Harmony told them, already sending Purrcy out at the Gladiataur. Jayden sent out a snake instead.  
"Naja! Crosswind!" Nicky decided to go with something different, rather than using her magic. She sent out Mim, who flew at the ready.  
"Mim! Uh, See Stars!" Mim did the move, and stars flew around the Gladiataur, and he began to hit himself with the sword.  
"He's been confused! Now's our chance!" Harmony called to them, sending out a Sweetpea Sprite. "Alacamara! Water Bomb!" The sprite did the move and Nicky looked at Mim, who appeared to be awaiting his next command.  
"Mim! Attack! All Out Attack!" The others nodded, threw out their familiars, Harmony Purrcy and Jayden Devil, and attacked the Gladiataur, who's confusion was wearing off.  
"Here, Nicky-girl! A bit of magic to spice youer life!" Sappy called, tossing magic orbs at her, just as the Gladiataur prepared to do a move called Everblade.  
"All Out Defense!" Nicky shouted, defending herself. They all felt the slash of the blade, but weren't hurt too bad. That was when Nicky noticed two golden glims coming off of him.  
"Nicky! Grab one of those!" Harmony shouted as Jayden grabbed one.  
"Sword of Elements!" He shouted, his voice harmonising and pulling out his sword, which was covered in flames. "Hell yeah!" Then he slashed at the Gladiataur, doing about two hundred thirty eight worth of damage. Nicky sent Mim after the other golden glim and he did Whirlwind, which did about the same. Then Nicky pulled back the exhausted Mim and did a Fireball at the Gladiataur, sending him down.  
"That's over with." Harmony muttered, then they all sighed with relief. The Gladiataur then stood, and ambled away.  
"Where's he going then?" Sappy wondered out loud. Nicky shrugged.  
"Probably back to his guardian duties. Hopefully he's back to normal." Then they left the Golden Grove and entered the Shimmering Sands.


	7. Chapter 7

(So, I got comment asking if this was similar to a story called Ni No Kuni: Heart of Doubt. I'll admit, it definitely has some aspects that I made similar to it because I loved that story so much, and I wanted something just like it, but with my own quirks)

As they entered the Shimmering Sands, they found Overripe Bunchers, Flummox Florets, and some very confused looking Strongos.  
"This is impossible!" Jayden exclaimed. "Overripe Bunchers are unobtainable unless through metamorphosis and Strongos live near Swan Island." Harmony nodded.  
"Just keep moving. Don't try to pick a fight with them. Let's just get to Al Mamoon to see what we can scavenge." They headed towards Al Mamoon, when all of a sudden, Fireballs came at them.  
"Flipping heck, mun! It's the Flyers!" Sappy shouted.  
"Run!" Harmony shouted, and they ran as fast as they could, when the Flyer that was chasing them got shot!  
"What the hell?" Jayden exclaimed, watching as the Flyer came down. Then they heard an "oof" and looked to see a pile of sand moving. Sappy crept over and gave it a kick, then shrugged. However, as he turned to walk away, a finger poked him in the back!  
"Crikey!" He shouted.  
"Ah!" Everyone else shouted as a boy popped out of the sand and pointed a gun at them!  
"Stay back! I'm the protector of the people of Al Mamoon!" He told them, lisping. Then he blinked. "Oh, you are people."  
"And a fairy, mun!" Sappy shouted at him. Nicky squinted at the boy. He looked about eight, with brown harem pants and a light brown vest with no shirt, but a mop of dark brown hair falling over brown eyes. He tilted his head.  
"Why do you guys look so surprised? Did you see a ghost?" Harmony shook her head, coming to her senses.  
"No, it's just that we didn't expect to see a little boy popping out of the sand. What's your name, sweetheart?" the little boy pounded his chest with his fist, grinning, Nicky noticing he was missing his two front teeth.  
"They call me Evan!" Nicky laughed a little.  
"Hi, Evan! I'm Nicky! And this is Jayden, Harmony and Sappy." Evan crawled the rest of the way out of the sand, came over, and shook hands with them.  
"Are you with the Resistance?" he asked them. Nicky shook her head.  
"We're actually going to find them, though." Evan jumped up.  
"I can help you with that! My papa knows where they are! He can get you on a ship to the Isle!" Nicky got excited.  
"Really? That's amazing! Can you take us to him?" Evan nodded.  
"Follow me!' Then he ran the other way. The group followed after him, all the way to a volcano.  
"Your parents are here at Old Smoky, Evan?" Jayden asked. Evan nodded.  
"Jabal-Al Dukhan." Harmony whispered. The others looked to her, and she shrugged."What? That's the official name! It says so in the Wizard's Companion." The others looked at each other and shrugged, then continued to follow Evan up the volcano, where they found a little village! There were little rock huts and tents, a pool of lava right in the center, clotheslines hanging over cracks in the ground, and even a big pool of boiling water! Nicky gasped, spinning around.  
"Crikey! This is just like how Ding Dong Well was like before, mun!" Sappy exclaimed, pulling his antennas in close so that his tulips wouldn't catch on fire.  
"Yeah, only I bet my sword that Ding Dong Well was a lot cooler." Jayden said, slipping off his long coat down to a white shirt and black pants. Nicky nodded in agreement, pulling off her leather jacket.  
"This place makes the desert feel like Yule." Harmony admitted, wiping the sweat off of her forehead. Evan nodded.  
"Yeah, sorry about that. Al Mamoon's pretty hot anyway, so we're pretty used it."  
"What happened at Al Mamoon?" Nicky asked. "I heard it got destroyed." Evan nodded.  
"It was the Flyers. This woman, she called herself Lelina came to the city. She told the Cowlipha that she worked for a man called Daimon. And she said that Daimon was coming to take over the world, and that if Al Mamoon followed under his rule, they'll be safe. The Cowlipha felt certain that it would be okay, but Queen Aaliyah saw through Lelina's lies...  
 _"And it all works out for you, Your_ _Moojesty_ _."_ _Lelina_ _told_ _Cowlipha_ _from her giant throne,_ _Aaliyah_ _sitting next to her looking skeptical. "Your city safe. All you have to do, is agree to follow under Lord_ _Daimon_ _and I's rule." the_ _Cowlipha_ _scratched her chin._  
 _"We suppose that it is a simple proclamation..."_  
 _"What are your plans for the world?"_ _Aaliyah_ _asked her._ _Lelina_ _shrugged._  
 _"Just a simple domination. You see, Lord_ _Daimon_ _and I come from a destroyed world, a world that is no more. And we have our kind, the_ _Senfanists_ _in need of a new home."_ _Aaliyah_ _shook her head._  
 _"I'm not sure world domination is the way to go. You are welcome to create a city here in Ni No Kuni, but we are a free world." The_ _Cowlipha_ _nodded._  
 _"Mummy, must agree with you,_ _Aaliyah_ _." To_ _Lelina_ _, she said, "We must decline this, this worldly offer. Our people are people of the free, and shall remain so."_ _Lelina's_ _eyes grew dark like a storm, but she smiled pleasantly._  
 _"Are you sure, your_ _Moojesty_ _? Because, Princess_ _Aaliyah_ _is merely a child in your presence."_ _Aaliyah_ _raised her eyebrows._  
 _"Ma'am I am thirty eight years old, as well as the current queen. And as queen, I am inclined to assert myself in any and all decision making." then she sighed. "I'm afraid I must ask you to leave."_ _Lelina's_ _eyes stormed like lightning and her smile turned dark_  
 _"Oh, Young_ _Moojesty_ _. You shall regret that decision." then she waved her staff in the air, ripping the roof of the palace, a storm brewing. The_ _Cowlipha_ _gasped and_ _Aaliyah_ _stood to her feet, grabbing her staff ._  
 _"What is this?" She demanded._ _Lelina_ _smiled evilly at them._  
 _"Flyers. Some other creatures from the Fallen World!" Then a load of black bird like creatures flew down from the storm. They began to shoot Fireballs at the_ _Cowlipha_ _and_ _Aaliyah_ _._  
 _"Your_ _Moojesties_ _!" Master_ _Abull's_ _voice came through the windstorm._ _Aaliyah_ _looked up at the_ _Cowlipha_ _._  
 _"Mother! Go find Master_ _Abull_ _! I'll take care of this!" The_ _Cowlipha_ _nodded._  
 _"Be careful, Mummy's dearest!" She said. Then she ran to find Master_ _Abull_ _... Made of stone!_ _Lelina_ _cackled evilly._  
 _"Pitiful fools! You've made a huge mistake!"_ _Aaliyah_ _shot at her with a Twister, then an Arrow of Light._  
 _"Get out of here! I offered you peace!"_ _Lelina_ _glared down at her, then shot at the_ _Cowlipha_ _, turning her to stone. "Mother! No!"_ _Aaliyah_ _cried out._  
 _"You offered me a city. I was the one who offered peace."_ _Lelina_ _told her, then turned_ _Aaliyah_ _to stone, then pointed towards the city._  
 _"Go, my precious Flyers!' She called. "Go and wreak the havoc you so crave!" The Flyers screeched, then flew over_ _Al_ _Mamoon_ _._  
 _Evan's father watched as the storm brewed, his mother standing next to him, looking fearful. Evan stood at the doorway of their home, looking at the sky._  
 _"Evan, come here." she told him. Evan ran over and she wrapped her arm around him, just as the Flyers came over. People screamed as Fireballs and Flyers came down on them._  
 _"Citizens of_ _Al_ _Mamoon_ _!"_ _Lelina's_ _voice called, harmonising as she flew above the destroyed Court of the_ _Cowlipha_ _. "I am_ _Lelina_ _, and these are my Flyers! And you only have your precious_ _Cowlipha_ _and Queen_ _Aaliyah_ _to thank for this!" Then she gestured to the Flyers, and gave a loud call. "_ _Caww_ _!" the Flyers came swooping down upon the city._  
 _"_ _Yasmina_ _! Take Evan and head for_ _Jabal_ _Al_ _Dukhan_ _!" his father told her._  
 _"Ali! What about you?" his mother asked, taking Evan's hand._  
 _"I'm needed here to get everyone else out! Just go to_ _Jabal_ _Al_ _Dukhan_ _!"_  
 _"Papa!" Evan shouted. Ali bent down and gave him a hug._  
 _"Don't worry, Evy. I'll be back! I promise!" Then he stood, gave_ _Yasmina_ _a kiss, and ran into the fray._  
 _"Evan, come on!"_ _Yasmina_ _pulled her son along and they ran as fast as they could towards the volcano, a few people running behind them. But the Flyers were right on their tails! Evan tried to focus on running and not on the screams of the people behind him being attacked by the Flyers. Soon, they reached_ _Jabal_ _Al_ _Dukhan_ _, better known as Old Smoky._ _Yasmina_ _stopped for breath, hugging Evan close. Evan could see only a few people left as they continued up the volcano. All of a sudden, a Flyer came right down at them. Evan cried out and_ _Yasmina_ _ran over to a tree, ripped off a branch, and set it on fire, then ran at the Flyer. "Get away from my son, you winged demon!" The Flyer squawked and flew away from the fire, shooting Fireballs back._  
 _"Mama!" Evan cried out. All of a sudden, a sword slashed and cut off a piece of the Flyer's wing. The Flyer squawked again and turned to see Ali, a bunch of other people behind him. "Papa!" Evan cried out again, as the Flyer bore down on Ali. Ali stabbed the beast just as it clawed his back and scraped across his arm. The Flyer fell to the ground, with a dying squawk, then Ali ran over to Evan, picked him up, grabbed_ _Yasmina's_ _hand, and pulled them the rest of the way up the volcano._  
"Papa figured that the Flyers, even though they shoot Fireballs, they don't like heat, so we stayed up here." Evan finished telling his story. Nicky felt like crying, Sappy looked at the ground, Jayden's face was coloured in disbelief, and Harmony's fists were clenched.  
"That's awful." Nicky said. "Is your papa okay?" Evan nodded.  
"Yeah, he's just scratched up really bad. Mama took care of him with water that some of the townsfolk brought with them, and he helped her because she got burned." Then he ran over to a tent. "Mama! There's people here! They need to get on a ship!" Then a woman with brown hair pulled back in a ponytail wearing a dirty brown dress and brown shoes came out, and Harmony gasped.  
"Yasmina?" She asked. The woman looked at her and smiled.  
"Harmony?" Harmony broke into a grin and went over Evan's mother, giving her a hug.  
"Oh my goodness, I can't believe it! It's been, what, five years?" Yasmina nodded.  
"Oh my goodness, it has!"  
"I knew that this was Evan, but I didn't realise that he was your Evan!" Harmony looked back at Evan. "By the Ancients, he looks like his father!"  
"Doesn't he?" Yasmina told her proudly.  
"Oh, but he has your eyes!" Then Harmony sighed. "My goodness, a lot changes in five years." Then Jayden cleared his throat.  
"Hate to break up the reunion, but, uh..." Harmony's eyes widened.  
"Oh! That's right. Yasmina, this is Nicky, Sappy, and Jayden." Yasmina gave a small curtsy.  
"Very nice to meet you three." Evan whispered in her ear. "Yes, Evan, I believe Sappy is a real fairy." Sappy jumped up, slightly irritated. Then Yasmina looked back up at Harmony. "So what brings you here to Jabal Al Dukhan? I thought you got captured."  
"Evan actually saved us from a Flyer and brought us here." Harmony told her. "And I was captured. It was Nicky who saved me." . Yasmina looked over and Nicky felt her cheeks turn pink. She wasn't fond of praise. "And she's out to save our world." Yasmina's eyes widened.  
"She is?" Nicky shrugged.  
"Well, I'm more out to save my dad so that he can save the world." The Frog Princess tilted her head.  
"Your father? Who's your father, if you don't mind me asking." Sappy jumped up.  
"Youer ladyship, allow me to introduce you to ouer hero, mun! This is Nicky-girl, the daughter of the Pure Hearted One!" Yasmina gasped.  
"Your father is Oliver? That sweet little boy?" Harmony shook her head.  
"Yasmina, Oliver is no sweet little boy anymore." Nicky laughed and shook her head.  
"No way" Then they heard a commotion, and looked back to see a bunch of men coming up with baskets, buckets, and bags. A bunch of women ran over to give them hugs. Yasmina smiled and Evan jumped up and down.  
"What's going on?" Nicky asked.  
"The men! They've returned!" Yasmina squealed. Evan looked to Nicky with bright eyes.  
"All of the men go down to Castaway Cove on missions to get water for us. It takes a few days because of the Flyers, so we haven't seen them in a while." Then he looked back at the men, and gasped. "Papa!" Nicky watched as the little boy and Yasmina ran to a man with tan harem pants, dark red shoes, and no shirt, but white bandages wrapping around his chest and over his shoulder. On his back, he had a bag and in his hand he held a bucket. But when he saw Yamina and Evan, he set the bucket down, slipped the backpack off, bent down, and lifted up Evan into a hug.  
"How's my Evy?" He asked, ruffling Evan's hair with a free hand. As Yasmina came over, he wrapped the hand around her and kissed her forehead. "And how's my beautiful Yasmina?" She smiled and kissed his cheek.  
"Ecstatic." He then set Evan down, and the little boy went to pick up the backpack.  
"I got it for you, Papa!" He said, lifting it up and hefting it over his shoulder. Yasmina nodded and grabbed the bucket.  
"And I've got this. You've been carrying this for the past few days. It's my turn." Ali laughed.  
"Thank you, my dears." Then he saw the others as he walked up. "Well, now! I didn't know we were having guests!" he exclaimed. They all laughed at him.  
"Hello, Ali!" Harmony called, going over and giving him a hug, then sniffing and pulling away. "Phew! I can tell you've been trekking across the desert! You're all sweaty!" Ali laughed again.  
"Hello, Abyssa! It's nice to see you!" Yasmina gave him a nudge.  
"It's Harmony, dear. Empress Harmony, at that." Harmony waved it away.  
"Oh, forget me being an Empress. Harmony or Abyssa, just don't call me late for dinner!" Then Ali saw the others.  
"And who are these delightful guests?" Jayden, Nicky, and Sappy exchanged looks,and tried not to laugh. Yasmina smiled as she set the bucket down by the tent.  
"This is Nicky, Jayden, and Sappy." Ali came over and gave a small bow to them. Nicky and Sappy exchanged looks, then snickered a little.  
"A pleasure to meet you. Nicky, Jayden and Sappy." Jayden gave a mock bow back, making Nicky and Sappy laugh even harder.  
"Oh no! A pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty." He said in a deep, regal voice. That cracked everyone up. Even Yasmina was laughing. Ali looked a little miffed, but he was smiling. You could tell that he used to be a prince, even with bandages wrapped around his body.  
"What brings you here to Jabal Al Dukhan?" Yasmina asked them.  
"We were actually on our way to Al Mamoon to look for supplies. But we were chased away by the Flyers." Nicky told her. Yasmina's soft face turned angry.  
"Oh, those stupid Flyers! I oughta walk into that city with a broom and batter those bozos myself!" Evan grabbed her hand.  
"Mama! You know you can't do that!" Yasmina sighed.  
"I know." Nicky looked at the little family, then at the village. What had seemed so resourceful and well put together before, now seemed very just making by. There was a baby crying somewhere, a little boy getting his arm wrapped by his mother in burnt cloth, a sound of a couple fighting coming from one of the tents. Then she turned back to Yasmina, a rush of determination filling her body.  
"Maybe you can't go and fight the Flyers, but we can!" Everyone looked to her in surprise. "If we can get rid of the Flyers, then you can all go home!" Jayden, Harmony, and Sappy exchanged looks, then nodded to each other. Yasmina and Ali exchanged looks with one another.  
"Are you sure about this, Nicky?" Ali asked her. "It could be very dangerous." Sappy scoffed for her.  
"Danger? Why, Nicky-girl eats that for breakfast! We can take em on!" Nicky shrugged.  
"Well, maybe not quite that, but we will take care of those Flyers!" Jayden nodded and Evan jumped up.  
"Nicky! Can I come and help? Please?" Nicky shook her head.  
"Evan, it's too dangerous." Evan stomped his foot.  
"But I can help! I have my own pistol and everything! I've even got a familiar!" Then he pulled out a Small Fry! Nicky, Jayden and Sappy's eyes went wide while Harmony smiled.  
"How did you get a familiar, Evan?" Jayden asked him. "I thought that none of you knew magic." Yasmina shook her head.  
"We don't." Evan nodded.  
"He followed me home one day, and my babysitter, Miss Esther, tamed him for me! He's called Frylous!" that got Harmony's attention. She looked to Ali.  
"Speaking of Esther, I heard you know a bit about the Resistance. Have you heard a word about her?" Ali shook his head sadly.  
"Nothing new. The fairy spies are still out looking for her, but they haven't found anything." Harmony sighed, looking discouraged. Nicky felt sorry for her. She remembered hearing so many things about Esther and Harmony...  
 _"Daddy, were you and Esther close?" She had asked him after a story about Swaine and Harmony. "You always talk about Swaine and Harmony! What about Esther?" Oliver thought for a minute._  
 _"I was very close to Esther, but quite possibly not as close as Harmony. I remember countless times where they would gang up on Swaine, or the time when Harmony helped Esther learn the Call of the Clarion." Nicky's eyes went wide and she looked at him expectantly._  
 _"Please tell me about that! I want to hear about how Harmony taught Esther the Call of the Clarion!" Oliver laughed, his eyes twinkling._  
 _"Well, we had just finished the Clarion, and Esther didn't know what to play. So, Swaine and I went into the Crypt Casino while Harmony helped Esther and Mr. Drippy watched..."_  
"...Please, Nicky? May I come?" Nicky was brought back by the sound of Evan begging. She looked to Yasmina and Ali, who exchanged looks, then nodded to each other and looked back to her.  
"Nicky, if it wouldn't be too big of a burden, we allow Evan to come with you. He is strong with Frylous, and is capable of fighting for himself." Nicky looked back at the little boy, then smiled.  
"Alright. You can come with us." Evan jumped, cheering.  
"Thank you, Nicky! I promise, I won't be annoying!" Nicky laughed.  
"I don't think that'll be a problem." Jayden pumped his fists.  
"Alright, let's go then! Al Mamoon, here we come!" But Harmony had something to say.,  
"If you don't mind, Nicky, I'd rather stay here. There's something I'd like to talk to Yasmina about." Nicky was a little surprised, but nodded.  
"It's okay, I don't mind. We got this." Harmony nodded back.  
"Thank you, Nicky. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important." Nicky shrugged.  
"No worries, Harmony."  
"Yeah. No offense, but you might slow us down a bit, seeing as your foot is made of stone." Jayden added, earning a glare from Harmony as she nodded.  
"Yes, I might've." She growled. Nicky looked between the two and decided that she, Jayden Sappy, and Evan should get going before there was a battle.


	8. Chapter 8

As they were leaving, Sappy asked the question everyone had on their minds.  
"Why do you think that Song-girl stayed behind? I would have thought that she would have wanted to join us, mun! Seeing as she had been locked up for a while and hadn't had a chance to battle for a bit!" Nicky shrugged.  
"Maybe she's a bit tired. After all, she has been dragging around that stone foot for a while That could be hard for the strongest of people." Jayden nodded, then grinned.  
"Yeah. Plus, she's getting older. She probably shouldn't be running around anymore." Sappy and Evan laughed while Nicky whacked him in the arm.  
"Jayden! She'd kill you if she knew that you said that! And anyway, she can't be that old. She was, what, nineteen when she met my father?" Jayden nodded grinning.  
"Yeah, and now she's at least forty five!" The boys all laughed and Nicky shook her head, but was smiling.  
"You three are impossible!" They laughed again, but the laughter petered out as they reached the gate into Al Mamoon. The city wasn't trashed like Ding Dong Dell, but it was destroyed. Rotting fruit lie around, burnt or burning wooden poles and tent covers lay around, one house had a hole in it.  
"My home!" Evan cried out, running to a clay house. Or what was left of it. The roof had caved in and one of the walls were down. Inside was broken glass everywhere and torn cloths. Evan looked ready to cry as he picked up an overturned basket that was charred on the bottom and had what looked like used to be a pillow in it. "This was Frylous's bed." He told the others, tears filling his big brown eyes. Then he dropped the basket and clenched his fists. "Lelina and her Flyers will pay! I will make sure of that!" Nicky went over to him and wrapped her arms around him.  
"Don't worry, Evan. We'll make sure that this doesn't happen to anybody else." Evan nodded, hugging her back. Jayden cleared his throat.  
"If we're going to do that, then we best get going. I'll bet those Flyers are hiding out in the palace. That was where Lelina unleashed them." Sappy jumped up and grabbed onto Jayden's shoulder, nodding.  
"Yeah, mun! Let's get a shuntin, Nicky-girl!" That was when they heard a dark laughter behind them. They spun around and saw a woman wearing a crimson dress with black roses on the front and a black cape over her shoulder. Her black hair was in dreadlocks and fell to her knees, with a black thorny headpiece pulling it back.  
"I'm afraid that your mission is futile, Young Savour" She told Nicky. Evan pointed his gun at the woman.  
"That's Lelina!" He told them. Nicky gasped and looked back at the woman, who glowered at Evan.  
"So, little boy, you choose to stir up trouble with me, do you? A very unwise decision, if I must say so." Evan didn't say anything to her, but kept pointing his gun. Nicky stepped up to Lelina.  
"You wouldn't dare touch him!" She growled. Lelina glared at her, then scoffed.  
"You seem tougher than you look, Young Savour. No matter. You are no match, for my pets." Then she vanished, laughing, and Jayden and Sappy gave a yell.  
"Flyers!" They screamed. Nicky and Evan looked up, and indeed, Flyers were coming down on them!  
"Ah!" Nicky screamed, covering Evan as a Flyer tried to claw at him.  
"Come on! Let's get to the palace, mun!" Sappy shouted. The four of them ran through the midst of Flyers, fighting only if necessary. Nicky had to admit, Evan knew what he was doing when he shot his gun or used Frylous. He was useful, no doubt about that.  
When they had fought their way through to the palace, they found a Waystone standing by the door.  
"Uh oh, mun! Best be ready! We've got a bit beastie comin ouer way!" Sappy told them. They each touched the Waystone, feeling a bit nervous, then entered the palace. As they walked in, they found a destroyed throne, with branches and tree trunks covering the smashed stone and torn purple fabric and red carpets were stained with bird droppings and what appeared to be- Nicky gulped- skeletons and carcasses of familiars.  
"That's vile." Jayden wretched, turning away from the mess. Evan clenched his little fists, looking at the ground. Sappy pulled his antennas closer to him, protecting the little flowers on the ends. Nicky nodded, feeling her stomach turned. Even the trash and garbage back at Ding Dong Dell wasn't as revolting as this, and she'd had to take a bath in the Spring of Life while Sappy Jayden, and Harmony were asleep afterwards.  
"Be careful everyone." She warned softly. "There could be anything around here."  
"Ha hahahahaha!" They heard that awful cackle again, and looked up to see Lelina, floating over the nest! "You've done well to make it this far, Young Savour. But unfortunately, your mission must end here."  
"Lelina!" Nicky shouted at the woman. "Where are they? Where is Queen Aaliyah, the Cowlipha, and Master Abull?"  
"Queen Aaliyah?" Lelina asked, then laughed. "Oh! You mean the young girl who refused my invitation of peace and brought the downfall of her own kingdom!"  
"You lie!" Evan shouted. "Queen Aaliyah was the one who offered you peace! You wanted world domination!"  
"Silence little boy!" Lelia called, sending a strong wind their way, almost pushing them all the way out the door. "This world belongs to Lord Daimon, and it shall remain so! Now, come forth, my beauty! Tear these puny mortals to pieces!" Then she vanished, and in her place, came a giant Flyer. Its claws were massive, and it had teeth from its mouth that looked like they could metal, and its eyes were glowing red.  
"That's The Momma Flyer!" Evan exclaimed, sending Frylous out as Jayden sent out a Najalisk instead of Bougs. Nicky had already begun to aim Fireballs at the Flyer, making it screech and shoot them back.  
"Aye, Nicky-girl!" Sappy called. "While those Flyers don't like fire , I'd try to cool em off, mun!" Nicky heard this, and decided to throw some Frostbites instead. This seemed to do more damage, and the Flyers screeched.  
"Ah!" She heard Evan scream, and saw that Frylous was gone and Evan was being shot at with Fireballs!  
"Evan!" She ran over and aimed a not very well aimed Arrow of Light at the Momma Flyer, hitting her wing and sending her flying towards Jayden instead.  
"Naja! Use Dark Cloud!" Naja spewed out a powerful purple cloud that poisoned the Momma Flyer, giving them a Chance, and Jayden a gold glim. Jayden ran at it and Nicky watched with excitement.  
"Sword of Elements!" He shouted again, only this time, the blade was covered in water and sloshed around as he swung his sword, but didn't drip anywhere. "Let's go!"  
"Big Shot!" Nicky heard Evan shout next, and saw that he had gotten a golden glim as well! He held up his small pistol and aimed it at the Momma Flyer. "Fire!" And a stream of good shot out and coursed in a cross pattern around the Momma Flyer, before tying it up and exploding on it. With that mixed with Jayden's Sword of Elements, the Momma Flyer nearly went down and they gained another chance, plus a third good glim.  
"Nicky! Grab it!" Jayden called, still swinging at the Flyer. Nicky was a little nervous, but ran at the glim and got it, feeling the power course through her veins. She held up her wand, a bright light forming at the end of it.  
"Pure Hearted Heroine!" She called, then jumped up and shot the light at the Momma Flyer. "He-yah!" The light hit the giant bird hard right in the heart, sending her down. Nicky grinned and held up her wand.  
"We did it!" The Momma Flyer screeched in pain, before vanishing in a bright light, leaving on a staff wrapped in green seaweed and had a clear jewel on the top.  
"That's the Sea Staff! It belongs to Queen Aaliyah!" Evan shouted, running over to it.  
"Evan, get back here!" Nicky called, running after him, Jayden and Sappy close behind.  
The four of them stared at the staff in amazement. "Go on, take it, Nicky." Jayden told her, and she looked at him in alarm.  
"What? I shouldn't! I mean, this belongs to Queen Aaliyah."  
"Queen Aaliyah isn't here, and she'd want you to take it." Evan told her. "Its much stronger than that wand anyway."  
"Go on, Nicky-girl! It won't be missed!" Sappy coaxed. Nicky reluctantly picked up the staff, and it shone a bright white light from the jewel. Evan's went wide.  
"Wow! I've never seen it glow white! It usually glows purple!" Nicky shrugged, still a little apprehensive about holding the staff.  
"Let's just get back to Old Smokey and let everyone know that its safe." The boys all nodded, then they left the palace.


	9. Chapter 9

The four of them left Al Mamoon and headed back to , not turning back to the forgotten city. When they got back, they found Harmony talking to Yasmina. She looked like she was having a very serious conversation, but when she saw them coming up, she smiled and stood up. Nicky noticed that she now held a wooden cane, and hurried over.  
"Harmony! Are you okay?" Harmony nodded, looking pained.  
"I'm alright, Nicky. My foot finally ground down to the point I needed a cane to walk." She reached down and pulled off the rag to reveal that her foot was barely a foot anymore! Her arch had broken off completely, leaving only her heel. She then quickly wrapped it up again and sat back down. Yasmina smile as her son came running over, his face red and covered in sweat and dirt.  
"Mama! We did it! We got rid of the Flyers!" Yasmina's eyes widened.  
"You did? Truly?" Nicky nodded proudly.  
"Yes, ma'am. It's safe for you all to return home."  
"Well, there's still Flyers around, but the palace is safe for you, anyway." Jayden added, earning an elbow to the ribs from Nicky.  
"Jay, shut up!" She muttered, earning a laugh from the others. That was when Ali came back outside.  
"Did I hear tell that the palace is safe? Meaning that the Mama Flyer is gone and we can safely reenter the city?" Sappy jumped up, nodding.  
"That's right, mun! And its all thanks to Nicky-girl!" Ali smiled brightly.  
"Oh, that's wonderful!" Then he looked at Nicky, and tapped his chin. "You know, there's something about Nicky that's vaguely familiar. I can't place my finger on it..."

"Got it in one, have you?" Sappy said. "That's the daughter of the Pure Hearted One!" Ali, Yasmina, and Evan looked at Nicky in amazement. "She's gonna save ouer world, en't it though?" Nicky looked down at her feet, blushing.  
"She is!?" Evan shouted, excitedly. "Yahoo!"  
"Oi you lot!" Jayden said to them. "As much as I like standing in this village in the sweltering heat of the volcano, we need to find the Island of Resistance as soon as possible!" Yasmina looked at him, dreamily.  
"I can only dream of getting the people of Al Mamoon to the Island of Resistance. But we can't get a ship without getting out in the open." Evan jumped up.  
"Mom! Mom! Mom! Can I go with Nicky to the Island of Resistance? I want to help her take down Mortui!" Yasmina looked at Ali in alarm, who was just as shocked.  
"You can trust Nicky, Yasmina." Harmony told her. "I've already seen some great things from her and I'm sure there are more to come." Yasmina still looked doubtful.  
"I don't know..." Ali stepped up.  
"I trust Nicky to take care of Evan."  
"And what about me and Jaydie-boy? What're we? Chopped liver?" Sappy demanded. Ali chuckled.  
"Of course I trust you two as well. And Abyssa as well. I trust you all to watch over Evan. That is, if Yasmina permits it." Evan gave Yasmina the biggest puppy eyes in the world and she threw up her hands, laughing.  
"Oh, alright! As long as you're careful. Mind what the others say. And try not to be a nuisance." Evan pouted.  
"Mooom! I'm not a nuisance!" They all laughed, then heard someone shouting.  
"Dinnerrrr!" Evan grabbed Nicky's hand.  
"C'mon, Nicky! The Purrprietor can make anything delicious!" Nicky laughed as the excited little boy dragged her over to a great cooking pot, where all of the Al Mamoonians gathered around and got a bowl of steaming curry, made not only by the Purrprietor, but by the great Raj Mahal. Nicky dipped her spoon on and tasted the curry... then gasped.  
"Oh my!"  
"Crikey, mun! There's tasty!" Sappy shouted. Harmony laughed at them. Jayden was too busy eating.  
"Raj makes the best curry all around! It's a mixture of meats and special herbs, plus a touch of the Sheik of Spices Special Spices that make it this way."  
After they ate, Yasmina insisted that they stay for the night. They stayed outside her tent on blankets, as it was cramped inside already and it was hot anyway. Nicky couldn't sleep though. She couldn't stop thinking about her dad. What had Mortui done to him? And what about that Daimon character that everyone kept going on about? What was he like? She pictured her dad, lying in his bed at home, her mother, grandparents, Aunt Melody, Uncle Sam and Grant, her dad's friends Phillip and Denny, all around her father's body, him dead, them all sobbing. She sniffled at that.  
"Nicky?" She heard a small voice say. She looked up and saw Evan coming out his tent. She smiled at him, trying to look reassuring so that he wouldn't know she was about to cry.  
"What's up, Evan?" She said softly.  
"Are you okay? You seem sad." She shook her head.  
"I just miss my dad, that's all. I'm worried about him." He went over sat next to her, curling up against her. She was surprised and comforted by this gesture.  
"I know how you feel." He said. "I'm worried about the Cowlipha and Princess Aaliyah. And Miss Esther too. Miss Esther used to babysit me, and so would Aaliyah if she wasn't too busy." The little boy sighed. "We'll save them though, right?" Nicky remembered what Jayden had said about Esther.  
 _"Esther fell off the boat screaming, and a serpent came out of the water in her place, baring huge teeth."_ Nicky shudderd and held Evan close.  
"Evan, I don't know if we're going to be able to save Miss Esther." Evan looked at her in shock.  
"Wh-what do you mean? Daimon has her like he has Aaliyah, the Cowlipha, and Master Abull, right?" Nicky shook her head.  
"Jayden told me that she got... eaten. Esther was eaten by a sea serpent." Evan gasped and began to cry. Nicky held him close, rubbing his back, rocking back and forth. "Sssshhh. Its going to be okay." She whispered. She began to hum a lullaby her father used to play on an old record that helped her sleep. Evan's sobs soon quieted, then ceased and he fell asleep. Nicky didn't even notice as she kept humming, until she heard someone come up behind her. She turned to see Jayden standing there, his hands in his pockets, grinning.  
"You do know he's asleep, right?" He asked her. She nodded, then he came over and lifted the small boy from her lap. "Here, I'll put him back in bed." She nodded again, yawning as Jayden carried Evan back into the tent. She went back to her blanket and fell back asleep, soothed by her own song.

 **PHH**

Harmony, unknown to the younger ones, wasn't sleeping either. She sat on the other side of the tent, looking at what she could see of the stars, and rubbing her belly. She heard Nicky singing to Evan, and smiled.  
"Sweet girl. Just like her father." She whispered.  
"You say something, Song-girl?" Harmony jumped at Sappy's voice, and shook her head.  
"Blimey, does anyone get sleep in your crew?" Sappy grinned and came closer, putting his small hand on Harmony's belly.  
"Usually, mun, usually." He murmured. Then he said softly, "how long, mun?" Harmony sighed. A fairy would have guessed her biggest secret on this journey.  
"Eight months, and three weeks. Nobody knows yet, not even Marcassin and Swaine." Sappy nodded.  
"Don't worry, mun. I won't tell nobody. But you'd better take it easy, like. Don't want you hurting youerself." Harmony smiled and patted the fairy's head.  
"Don't worry. I'll be careful."

(Can anybody guess Harmony's secret? Let me know!)


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning, Nicky, Jayden, Sappy, Harmony and Evan set off early. Yasmina gave them a bunch of bread and a few strong coffees for their journey. When they reached the entrance to Castaway Cove, Jayden, Harmony, and Evan pulled Nicky and Sappy into a building that must have been the Cat's Cradle, for there was the Purrprietor.  
"Oi, mun!" Sappy shouted at them. "What do you think that youer doing!? The ships are at the docks, not in the hotel!"  
"You're required to wear a bathing suit in Castaway Cove." Jayden told him as he went up to the Purrprietor's desk. "Five bathing suits, please. Two girl, two boy, one fairy." The Purrprietor smiled.  
"Of course, young man. Allow me to get them for you." Then she went into the back. Nicky looked around outside. It seemed so peaceful, she couldn't believe she was still in this world.  
"Why is Castaway Cove so peaceful while the rest of the world is in such ruin?" She asked.  
"Castaway Cove is a town of peace, thanks to the governor who had this brilliant bathing suit idea." Harmony told her as the Purrprietor came back with the suits and Jayden handed Harmony her's. "Because of the governor's major strength and abundance in restraint, he refused, saying that if anyone comes to Castaway Cove, be they human or Senfanist, they all wear bathing suits and make peace, or make war and leave."  
"And since the boats always come here, they all had to agree!" Evan finished.  
"Well, since we have to wear bathing suits, let's go take care of that now." Jayden said.  
"You may use the rooms to your left and right to change." The Purrprietor told them. "Left is boys, right is girls." Jayden nodded, then led Sappy and Evan to the room on the left while Harmony and Nicky went to the one on the right. Then both girls turned their backs to each other as they dressed. Nicky's was a white bikini with a skirt that tied around her waist and fell to her ankles. She turned and saw Harmony struggling to hook a black one piece with a pair of black shorts in the back.  
"Here, let me help." She said, then took the hook and got it on, Harmony blushing. When they came out of the room, they saw Jayden, Evan, and Sappy standing there. Sappy wore a little white one piece that an orange stripe across the middle, Evan had bright blue shorts and a blue swim shirt, and Jayden wore a pair of black shorts.  
"Sorry we made you all wait." Harmony said.  
"We may be boys, but we're not ignorant of the feminine dress, aye boys?" Jayden nodded, but Evan was confused.  
"What about feminine dress?" He asked. Everyone laughed, then headed outside, where they saw many creatures, walking around and mingling with the humans.  
"Are those the Senfanist?" Nicky asked. Jayden nodded.  
"They can shift forms from different creatures of this realm and your's. We'd better be careful." Then they went over to the docks, where they saw a huge ship, just sitting there! And there was a man on it.  
"Excuse me! Captain!" Nicky called. The man turned and broke out into a smile.  
"Well, if it ain't Oliver! How're you doin, lad? And why pray tell are you wearing a woman's suit?" Nicky sighed.  
"That's not Oliver, Sindbah." Harmony told him as they walked onto the ship. "This is Nicky, his daughter." Sindbah broke out into a smile.  
"Well, now! She looks just like her father, just a bit older! But it's good to see you again, Abyssa!" She smiled.  
"It's nice to see you too, Captain Sindbah. May we have a ride on your ship?"  
"We have to get to the Isl-" Jayden slapped a hand over Evan's mouth.  
"Teeheeti. We have to get to Teeheeti." He said quickly. Sindbah gave them a toothy grin.  
"Aye, you're after the Island of Resistance, aye?" He asked.  
"Yes sir." Nicky told him. He leaned in close.  
"Well, don't tell the Senfanist, but that's where I'm heading myself. I'm tired of carrying them back and forth from the Broken Crown to here." Nicky gasped.  
"You've been helping them!?" She whispered-shouted. He nodded.  
"Aye lass. In return, they let me keep the Sea Cow. I couldn't bear to part with her. The crew themselves don't like it, but they stuck around. I told them I could drop them off at Teeheeti, but they stayed, the faithful lads." Nicky smiled.  
"They must be very nice men." She said, looking around as she saw them coming out their cabins.  
"Aye lass, they are." Then he called out to them.  
"Weigh anchor!" He called, then whispered to one of the men, who passed it on. "Another journey to the Broken Crown lies ahead of us!" Harmony led them to a cabin, where they hid.  
"If the Senfanist realised who you were, they would come after you." She told Nicky. "You need to avoid them until we can get to Mortui."  
"I think that maybe a problem for you, miss." They heard someone say. They looked and saw a Senfanist! He was a fox!  
"What the hell!?" Jayden shouted as they all stood ready.  
"I'm a bit of a stowaway myself." The fox man told them, smiling a toothy smile. Then he looked at Nicky. "So, you must be the Young Savour that Daimon was going on about. Funny, i imagined someone a little more... powerful looking." Nicky blushed, but stood her ground. Then the fox began to attack them! Harmony shot him with a Fireball, singeing his fur, but then he threw a Nix at her!  
"Agh!" She gasped, the Nix hurting her. "I can't use magic!" Then she threw a little creature out of her chest! The creature was like a cat with a gold eyepatch, red coat and puffy white pants and a sword.  
"Purrcy, attack!" Harmony shouted. Nicky could see Jayden on the other side, pulling his Najalisk out of his chest.  
"Naja, attack!" Evan began to shoot at the fox, who was beating up on Naja. Nicky flipped through the Wizard's Companion and threw an Arrow of Light at it, knocking him back as the creatures went after him, Evan switching from his gun to Frylous. Then the fox sat up.  
"Defend!" Nicky shouted. Then the fox did Sharp Teeth, which bit Purrcy who had Evaded and it ended too soon, knocking him out, knocking out Harmony.  
"Harmony!" Nicky shouted.  
"Nicky, send out a familiar!" Jayden shouted as he sent his Boggly-Boo out. (That's probably not the proper name of the familiar)  
"I don't have any other familiars, and Mim's weak!" She told him.  
 _"And Old Father Oak gave me a spell called Form Familiar, and a_ _little_ _creature came out of my heart!" Nicky eyes widened._  
 _"Was it like a pet?" She asked. Oliver nodded._  
 _"It was. But because we shared a heart, if he got hurt then, so did I, so I had to be careful with him."_  
"Fireball!" Nicky shouted, hitting the fox who was super weak, then Bougs, Jayden's Boggly-Boo gave him a big hit with a his hands and the fox went down.  
"Puny mortals." He muttered, just as Sindbah entered.  
"What's going on in here?" He asked, eyeing the fox.  
"Captain, I believe you had a stowaway." Sappy told him, from where he had been cowering in a corner. Sindbah went and picked up the fox by the nape of his neck.  
"Well now, how do we dispose of the vermin, eh?" He asked them.  
"Throw him overboard!" Evan said, his eyes gleaming. Sindbah laughed, then did just that. He led the others out onto the deck and threw the Senfanist far into the sea, where they could just barely make out that he was swimming back to Castaway Cove.  
"Harmony!" Nicky shouted, remembering her friend, who was weak from getting hit with Sharp Teeth.  
"Hurry up, mun!" Sappy shouted. "Get some food into her!" Nicky dug through her bag and pulled out some bread, in which she gave to Harmony, who ate it fast.  
"Thank you Nicky." She said, her strength returning. Then they sat out on the deck, after getting changed out of their swimsuits and putting them into the bottomless bag, and watched the waves. They had a long trip.


	11. Chapter 11

"Teeheeti!" Shouted a shipmate. Nicky grinned when she saw a huge mountain with a volcano on top.  
 _"Was she really that big?" Nicky asked Oliver._  
 _"Huge! If I hadn't met her, I would've thought she was just a mountain with a volcano stuck on the top!"_  
"Sappy, is that your mother?' Nicky asked him as they got off the ship. He nodded excitedly.  
"Yep! That's my Mam!" He then ran into the forest, where a bunch of fairies looked at them.  
"Look, mun! More humans!"  
"Any Senfanist among them?" The fairies began chatting.  
"There's no Senfanist with us!" Harmony called. Then two fairies came over, one in blue, one in red.  
"How do, mun?" Said the one in red, grinning. "I'm Smiley, from Smiley 'n' Surly."  
"I'm Surly." Said the one in blue. "And this one looks like his eyes are gonna pop out of his head!" He gestured to Evan, who was looking at the small village in awe. Nicky was doing to same.  
"This is nothing like my painting." She said. Harmony and Sappy laughed.  
"Welcome to the Fairygrounds, mun!" Sappy shouted. Then he looked at Smiley 'n' Surly. "Do you boys know where we can find the Resistance? Nicky-girl needs their help!"  
"Sure we do, mun!" Said Smiley. "But why does she need them? And who is she, Sappy-boy?"  
"She's the daughter of Lord Drippy's Ollie-boy!" The fairies gasped. "And I, Sappy, am taking her to save the world! Along with Froggy, Jaydie-boy, and Song-girl here!"  
"Song-girl? I en't seen her since ouer show where we got our pieces of art back!" Surly said. She grinned.  
"Well I'm back!" She said. Smiley grinned even bigger while Surly frowned a little less.  
"Nice to see you again, mun!" Smiley said. "You look good!" Then he looked at her curiously. "You got a littlie in there, en't it though." Her face turned red. Nicky, Jayden, and Evan gave her a look.  
"What does he mean by that, Harmony?" Jayden demanded. She looked away.  
"Is Harmony having a baby?" Evan asked. She nodded.  
"Guys, I'm pregnant." She told them. Nicky gasped. "I didn't want to to tell you all because it's already seven months along now. I haven't even told Marcassin yet." Jayden sighed.  
"You should have told us, Harmony." Nicky told her. "You could have stayed back at Ding Dong Well." Harmony shook her head.  
"No, I wanted to come. This was my idea, and I shall not stop journeying with you. Unless I become a burden." Nicky shook her head this time.  
"You're not a burden. I just wish you had told me. I would've helped you more." Jayden nodded.  
"Yeah Harmony. You always seemed real uncomfortable. I always thought it was because of your foot, but i guess now we know why." She blushed a deeper red.  
"Let's just find the Resistance." She said quickly. "I'm worried about Swaine." Smiley 'n' Surly nodded, eager to stop the conversation that Smiley had started.  
"Righto! We'll take you there, mun!" Smiley said, then led them deep into the forest, where they heard voices, and came upon a much bigger village! And it was filled with people! Well, people and grimalkins.  
"Who's there?" Shouted a grimalkin.  
"Smiley 'n' Surly!" Smiley called. "And we've got more people!"  
"And they want to see Prince Thief-face!" Surly added. The grimalkin came over, and Nicky could see he had pretty big muscles under his fur. He glared at the four humans, ignoring Sappy who cowered behind Smiley 'n' Surly. Nicky felt scared under this cat man's glares.  
"Why do you lot want to see Prince Swaine?" He demanded. Harmony snorted.  
" _Prince_ Swaine? Goodness, he's certainly rose in the ranks!"  
"Who are you who dares insults the Prince of Hamelin, now leader of the Resistance?" She stepped forward, glaring back at the grimalkin.  
"His sister-in-law, the Empress of Hamelin." The grimalkin gasped, then fell to his knee, bowing.  
"Pardon me, Empress Harmony." She waved her hand at him, making him rise.  
"Arise, sir. You were only doing your job." The grimalkin looked at Jayden, Nicky and Sappy. Smiley 'n' Surly had left.  
"Who are they?"  
"Prince of the Sky Pirates, Jayden, Sappy the fairy, Son of the Frog Prince, Evan, and the daughter of the Pure Hearted One, Nicky." The grimalkin's eyes widened. "Now if you would take us to _Prince_ Swaine, that'd be great, thank you." The grimalkin nodded, then led them through the village. They walked to a big cabin and the grimalkin knocked on the door.  
"Your Majesty? You have visitors."  
"Come in, Phineas." Said a tired voice. They walked in and saw Swaine sitting in a chair, his back to the door. "Who is it, Phineas? I'm a little busy." Harmony snorted.  
"You? Busy? There's a laugh! Maybe busy sleeping!" He turned, looking confused, and his face broke out into a grin.  
"Harmony!" He ran over and gave her a hug. "I was so worried! Where's Marcassin? Is he hurt? Are you hurt?"  
"I'm... fine." She said. "Marcassin was captured and turned to stone by Daimon. I managed to escape." Swaine gasped.  
"What?" She nodded.  
"Please, can't we discuss this later?" She motioned to the others. "There's a child in the room." He looked behind her.  
"Who are they, Harmony?" She sighed.  
"That's Kublai's son, Jayden, Ali and Yasmina's son, Evan, Sappy the fairy, and Nicky is Oliver's daughter." Swaine gasped.  
"Wh-! Jayden survived... a-and Ali had a... then Oliver...?" He looked at Harmony, who nodded.  
"Can't you see it?" He looked at the two teens and little boy again.  
"Y-yeah. Bloody hell, Nicky's a mirror image of Oliver! And Jayden and Evan... bloody hell..." Then he looked at Sappy. "And their little fairy companion, huh? Just like old times, is it?" Harmony punched him in the shoulder. He winced.  
"Never going to get used to that." Nicky, Jayden, Evan, and Sappy laughed. Then Nicky went up to Swaine.  
"Your Majesty, we need your help." He laughed.  
"No need to call me majesty. Phineas is just real formal. Just call me Swaine." Then he saw their faces. "Wait, what's wrong?"  
"It's Oliver, Swaine." Harmony told him. "He was taken from Motorville by Mortui." Swaine sighed.  
"You wasted your time. I don't really fight anymore. I just give orders." They all gasped.  
"Why the flipping heck not!?" Sappy shouted. "You were one of the five who defeated flipping Shadar and the White Queen! You were part of the group that stopped Senkrad and brought the Mamooni princess back! Why the flipping heck are you not going to help us!?"  
"It's because of Esther, isn't it?" Jayden asked. "And my parents, and Drippy." Swaine turned his back and nodded.  
"After they were taken and Esther was killed, I swore to myself I would never lead another group to destruction." Harmony put a hand on his shoulder.  
"Swaine, I understand how you feel. I... I fell as though I lead Marcassin to where he is now. But that doesn't mean we can't fight anymore! We have to try and save them!" Swaine looked at the ground, then nodded.  
"Well, there's something I need to do before anything."  
"What's that?" He looked at Nicky.  
"I need to avenge Esther. I need to kill the serpent.


	12. Chapter 12

"Avenge Esther?" Harmony asked him, having Jayden take Evan and Sappy to get something to eat. Nicky stayed behind, wanting to be there for Harmony. "Swaine, we both know that's not what Oliver would have wanted. He would have never thought to get revenge." Swaine banged his fist on a desk by his chair."  
"I don't care! This is _Esther_ we're talking about! She's one of our best friends! And you're willing to just, _move on,_ from her!?" Harmony backed up. Swaine had been angry before, but he had never lashed out like that. And this was Harmony, his sister-in-law. She stood up straight.  
"Well. That is true."  
"I think we should at least at least check this out." They both looked at Nicky, who shrugged. "My dad once told me that if something happens to someone in this world, it will affect their soulmate in the otherworld." Swaine and Harmony looked at each other.  
"That's true!" Harmony said. "If something happened to Esther, then Myrtle would be gone too!" She looked at Nicky. "Nicky, do you know someone named Myrtle Cartwright?" Nicky grinned.  
"Know someone? Myrtle Cartwright is my mother!" Both adults' eyes widened. "And she's alive and well. She's been a little off, but she's alive!" Swaine whooped.  
"That means Esther's _alive_!" He ran over to Nicky and gave her an enormous hug. "C'mon! I've still got the Iron Wyvern! We can gather a search party and _find her!_ " Harmony smiled and hugged both Swaine and Nicky.  
"Let's do it then!" Then they both ran out of the room as fast as they could. Nicky smiled. She felt good that she had made them both so happy. She was about to follow them, when she heard someone clearing his voice. She turned around and saw Mortui! She glared at him.  
"What the hell are _you_ doing here!?" She demanded.  
"I just came to see if you had taken my offer and went home."  
"Never! I will never give up saving my dad! Or anybody else! You and Daimon ruined lives, and I'm here to fix them." Mortui rolled his eyes.  
"You fool! Do you honestly think you can survive, going up against me? I doubt you can even defeat the serpent! Take my advice and leave, or suffer the consequences!" She pulled out her staff.  
"I'm not going anywhere, Mortui. Get used to it." She growled. Mortui raised his eyebrows.  
"Come then! Show me your power!" He demanded, a heavy blowing Nicky back. She shot back with an Arrow of Light hitting him real good, but she was low on magic. Then she remembered something else.  
 _"Nicky! Send out your familiar"_ She went through her Wizard's Companion and turned to the page Form Familiar. It was about time she used it.  
She cast it, and a little purple owl came out! A Tu-Whit!  
"Tu-Whit! Attack!" She shouted, her mind being filled with magic attacks that the Tu-Whit. The little bird went after Mortui, dealing little damage. "Uh, Tu-Whit! Whirligig!" The little bird did a magic move and hit Mortui, hard. He yelled and hit her back with a Rain of Terror, hurting her and the Tu-Whit bad. She groaned, and threw a Fireball at Mortui.  
"Nicky!" She turned and saw Swaine, Sappy, and Harmony coming up, Evan and Jayden not too far behind. Mortui laughed.  
"Ha ha! So, you've got your own little posse? How quaint. But are they strong enough?" Sappy threw Nicky a few magic orbs while Harmony got Mortui with a Frostbite, Jayden threw Bougs at him, and both Evan and Swaine began to shoot at him.  
"Just like old times, eh Harmony?" Swaine asked her. She grinned, then gasped as she was hit with a Dark Pillar move that made black energy swirl around her, dealing damage to her hard. "Harmony!" He ran over to her and led her off the battlefield, her coughing. Nicky got angry. She shot Mortui with another Arrow of Light. Mortui looked at the group. Swaine was helping Harmony, Evan was still shooting, but he had a scratch on his cheek that was bleeding, Sappy was running low on orbs, and Nicky was panting. He cackled.  
"Hm. So this is what the new group of savours can do? Pitiful!" Then he began to fade away. "See you in Hamelin." Then he was gone. Nicky fell to her knees, exhausted. Evan and Sappy ran over to her.  
"Nicky! Are you alright?" Evan asked. Nicky looked at the little boy who seemed scared, and smiled reassuringly at him.  
"I'm alright, Evan. Here, let me fix that cut." She waved her wand and did a Healing Touch. The cut instantly healed. Then they ran over to Harmony and Swaine. Harmony's face was red and she looked like she was in pain.  
"Harmony?" Nicky came closer and lay her hand on Harmony's hand, Swaine holding the other one.  
"Here, drink this." Jayden said. Then he pulled out a bottle of Great Sage's Secret from the Bottomless Bag and gave it to Harmony, who downed it down, a soft green glow going over her and her breathing slowing down. "Better?" She nodded.  
"Thank you, all of you. I'm alright." She stood up, Swaine helping her, and she winced.  
"Is the baby kicking?" Asked Evan. Jayden threw a hand over his mouth and Nicky pushed Evan behind her. Swaine looked at Harmony.  
"Baby?" Harmony nodded.  
"It's Marcassin's. It's been seven, almost eight months. He doesn't know." Swaine's eyes widened.  
"Harmony, why didn't you tell us? Tell _him?"_  
"There just wasn't a good time. The first time I tried to tell him, I chickened out because I still wasn't sure. Tried again, you needed to give him a message. Last time, we got captured. I never told him because of this bloody war in this world. I didn't want to distract him." Swaine shook his head.  
"Harmony, you know that you come first in Marcassin's heart. Before anything else, he always makes sure that _you_ are safe."  
"Exactly. That's why I didn't tell him." She said. "We needed to focus on making sure you were okay and saving the people of Hamelin. He didn't need to know that I was pregnant on top of that." Swaine sighed. And looked out the window of the cabin it was already getting dark out.  
"It's getting late. Nicky, why don't you take Sappy, Jayden, and Evan over to get something to eat at the mess hall? I've got to have a word with Harmony." They all left without a word, and Harmony crossed her arms.  
"Haven't you said enough? I already feel horrible about not telling you or Marcassin. I hadn't even told the kids. Sappy was the only one who knew, and that was because he felt the baby kicking back at Jabal Al Dukhan." Swaine sighed again and helped Harmony over to the chair.  
"Harmony, listen to me. You can't go on this mission. Its too dangerous for you and the baby." Harmony shook her head.  
"No, Swaine, like it or not, I'm coming with you. You and I are in this to the bitter end, and our job as family to save Marcassin together." Swaine smiled and shook his head back at her.  
"You are so stubborn. When will you stop?"  
"When this baby is born." She told him seriously. "That will be my next great adventure."


	13. Chapter 13

While Harmony and Swaine spoke, Nicky had taken the others to the mess hall. There they got a bunch of different varieties of seafood.  
"Crikey! I'll bet this the fairies doing!" Sappy shouted gleefully. "We fairies love a bit of seafood! But it looks like there's other foods over by there, mun!" They all got some food, then found a spot outside in the sun. While Sappy told Evan about the Fairygrounds, Nicky noticed something glinting under Jayden's shirt collar.  
"What's that?" She asked, pointing. He looked and covered it with his hand.  
"Nothing." He said quickly, but she wasn't taking that. She reached over and pulled on it, popping it off. "Hey! Give that back!" He said, but she giggled and held it away from him, looking at it. It was a necklace. A necklace that a a skull and crossbones on it with red lining it, the eyes in the skull hearts. On the back, there was an inscription.  
"To the love of my life." She read. She grinned at him as he fell back, defeated. "Whose this from?" She asked him.  
"My mom gave it to me." He told her. "It was a gift to her from my dad. She told me that it had been given to women all down the generations from their loved ones. She told me that when I find the right girl, I should give it to her." Nicky's grinned disappeared.  
"Was this before or after she got taken?" She asked him.  
"The same day. She gave it to me before we had went to get Swaine, Esther, and Drippy. I kept it in my pocket, a little embarrassed by it. But when she and Dad got taken, I wore it as a constant reminder that I have to save them." Nicky nodded solemnly and handed it back to him.  
"Sorry." She said.  
"It's alright. You didn't know." He told her, putting it back on and tucking it back under the collar of his shirt. Then he changed the subject. "So, what's your world like? Is it like our's?" She chuckled.  
"Pft, oh nothing like this one. We don't have any familiars, or fairies, or anything!" He leaned forward.  
"Are there any airships?" She shook her head.  
"No, but we have these things called airplanes, which are pretty similar." He tilted his head, looking legitimately curious.  
"Airplanes?" She nodded.  
"Yeah! They're like big metal birds that people ride inside of! The front of it is like a nose and it's where the people who drive it ride. Everyone else sits in the back." His eyes widened.  
"Do they crash?" She nodded.  
"Sometimes. People get really hurt in those crashes." He nodded slowly.  
"Sounds like an airship." Then he looked at the sky. "I wish I could see an airplane though. They sound amazing!" Nicky grinned.  
"Well, inside they're not much, but you can't be outside. They go too fast. Maybe one day you can to our world and you can ride one!" He grinned back.  
"That would be pretty cool." They sat in silence for a bit, eating. Then Jayden spoke again.  
"You mentioned something about a painting? You paint?" She nodded sheepishly.  
"Yeah. I don't have many friends back in Motorville. They aren't really into my dad's stories about this world. They think that he's crazy." Jayden snorted.  
"My dad told me about Oliver. He said that he was the kindest, bravest, and most amazing kid he's ever met. If your friends think that's the definition of crazy, then they're super crazy!" Nicky laughed.  
"Yeah!" Then she thought for a moment. "I wish I could bring them to this world. Then they'd eat their words three times over!" He laughed.  
"Heck yeah, they would! But how do you think your dad would feel about that? Word would get around, people coming and going from both worlds..." she nodded.  
"This is sort of dad's home away from home. I don't think he'd enjoy a bunch of people coming in and out of it." Then she stood with her empty plate, Jayden doing the same. "C'mon. Let's go see if Harmony and Swaine are doing okay." They took their plates inside, then went back to Swaine's hut, leaving Sappy and Evan to their stories. Nicky peeked in the door.  
"Swaine? Harmony?"  
"C'mon in, Nicky." Harmony called. "We're all right now." Nicky and Jayden went into the hut, where they found Swaine and Harmony looking like they'd just finished a discussion and a half.  
"Are you sure you're alright?" Jayden asked, sensing the tension. Swaine nodded.  
"Yeah, we're fine. Let's just get ready to go. We've got us a serpent to catch and a familiar tamer to save!"

 **PHH**

Later that day, Nicky found herself standing beside Evan with Sappy on her shoulder, watching as the Iron Wyvern, a once great airship, took off into the sea! Jayden was at the helm, with Swaine by his side. Harmony was below decks on Swaine's wishes, resting.  
"That baby could be due any day now." He had said. "I don't want to risk her." But that wasn't what was on Nicky's mind now. Right now, it was on Esther, the soulmate of her mother. She hoped that she was okay. They sailed the seas, the skies getting darker. Evan was as restless as any ten year old boy would be on a ship that he had to be careful on. The Iron Wyvern didn't exactly have anything on it's sides to keep from falling into the water. So Nicky and Sappy kept an eye on him. Well, Nicky kept an eye on him. Sappy kept hopping above and below decks, until Harmony came back up.  
"He kept coming down with questions about Drippy." She told Nicky. "So I decided to just come up. I'm about as restless as Evan, anyhow. Settling down is a hard thing to do on a journey." Nicky giggled, feeling less apprehensive at the Songstress's words. Then they heard a loud bang on the bottom of the ship.  
"What was that?" Swaine asked Jayden, who looked just as confused.  
"I don't know! It's never made that noise when we were in the skies." he told him. "Maybe water's getting into the engines?" Then came another bang, and a huge green tail swung up and smacked the deck, almost hitting Nicky and Sappy!  
"That en't no engine, mun!" Sappy shouted. "That's a serpent!" Then the beast itself came out of the water! It snarled at them, sharp teeth dripping with water from it's huge mouth.  
"Harmony! Nicky! Be careful!" Swaine ran down and pulled both girls away from the monster, shooting it. The beast screamed in pain and waved it's massive tail. "Where's Esther, you foul creature!?" Swaine demanded.  
"Nicky, get back!" Harmony told her, shooting at the serpent with an Arrow of Light. The creature screamed, but didn't attack. Nicky noticed that. The serpent was getting shot at from all directions, but it wouldn't fight back. She made a split second decision. She ran straight at the serpent.  
"Nicky!" She heard shouts from all over, but she ignored them, determined to get to the snake.  
"Stop shooting at it!" She shouted. Everyone looked at her in surprise, but slowly did as she said. The serpent looked down at her, seeming to smile. Then, Nicky saw them. Blueberry blue eyes. Just like her mother's.  
"Oi, Nicky-girl!" Sappy shouted. "Any chance youer going to hit it!?" She shook her head, reaching up to the creature. The serpent bent it's neck down, and as she touched it, there was a bright light. Nicky opened her eyes, and saw the serpent was gone. In it's place, was a woman. A blond woman with long hair, a purple top that had pink sleeves, pink harem pants, and pink flats. Her hair looked like it had been in a braid, but had gotten ripped out of it, leaving it loose and her clothes had seen better days.  
"The serpent hadn't killed Esther." Nicky told everyone. "The serpent _was_ Esther."


	14. Chapter 14

The woman, Esther, slowly sat up, rubbing her forehead.  
"Wh- What happened?" She asked. "Where am I?"  
"Esther!" Swaine and Harmony ran over and gave the woman a huge group hug. She laughed as she hugged them back.  
"Swaine! Harmony! You're alright!" Then she gasped and looked at them. "But how? I remember, we were looking for the Broken Crown, and then there was this man, and I went overboard..." Swaine shook his head.  
"It's alright now! You're safe!" He hugged her again.  
"You were under a curse, but Nicky freed you." Harmony explained, gesturing to Nicky. Esther smiled at her.  
"Thank you, Nicky." Then she looked back at Swaine and Harmony. "But what happened? Where's Drippy? And Kublai and Khulan? What about Jayden?" Harmony and Swaine looked at each other grimly.  
"Drippy, Kublai and Khulan got captured by Daimon, the same man who turned you into that beast. But Jayden is right there." He pointed to Jayden, who grinned from the helm.  
"Miss Esther! You're alive!" Evan went running over and hugged Esther. She smiled.  
"Oh, little Evan!" She said happily. She then looked back at Nicky. "Is it just me? Or does Nicky look like..." Harmony nodded.  
"Yes. She looks like Oliver. That's because she's Oliver's daughter." Esther's eyes widened, then she giggled.  
"Well now! I didn't expect that!" Nicky blushed. Swaine just couldn't stop smiling.  
"This is great! We've almost got the whole team back together!" Esther looked at him.  
"Almost? Where's Oliver and Marcassin?" Swaine and Harmony looked at each other, not wanting to tell her. So Nicky stepped up.  
"My father and Marcassin were captured."  
"Yeah!" Said Evan, who still had Esther's hand and was jumping up and down. "And that's not all! Harmony's going to have a baby!" Esther gasped and looked at Harmony, who looked at the ground. Then she sighed.  
"Well I certainly feel like I've missed a lot!" She said. "Someone is going to have to catch me up!" So they did. All of them went below decks and told Esther the whole story. From when Nicky first saw Mortui, down to where they found her.  
Later that night, back at the village, everyone was celebrating Esther's return. Except Nicky. She sat apart from the festivities, playing with her drink and staring at Mortui's Deal Chain around her wrist. She heard someone come up behind her, and saw that it was Esther. The woman sat next to her and gave her a nudge.  
"I know that look. Your father got that look many times when we were on our journeys. What's on your mind?" Nicky sighed.  
"Just that." She said. "I keep thinking, I'm not my dad. It was my fault he got captured in the first place. And I feel like everyone is comparing me to him." Esther wrapped her arms around Nicky.  
"Nicky, no one is comparing you to your father." She said. "I'm certainly not. You have his looks and his spirit, but other than that, all you've got is his heart. And you hadn't known what was going to happen. Your father blamed himself for Alicia's death too." Nicky looked up at her.  
"Really?" Esther nodded.  
"Yes. And he did exactly what you're doing now. He was saving his mother. You're saving your father."  
"But he couldn't save Grandma Alicia." Nicky told her. "Remember? It wasn't possible. What if I can't save him?" Esther rubbed her shoulders.  
"Nicky, you will save Oliver. I know you will. And even if he didn't, he saved the rest of the world. Quite a few times, actually. And you are doing just that and more. You saved me, didn't you? And Jayden from the Flyers. And you helped Harmony all the way here." Nicky nodded.  
"Yeah. I guess I did, huh?" Esther nodded and hugged the teeanger, who wasn't exactly feeling like a teenager right now. Nicky hugged her back.  
"Thanks, Mom." Esther pulled away and looked at her quizically. Nicky realised what she said and her cheeks turned red. "I-I mean Esther." Esther's eyes widened and she smile.  
"I see." She chuckled. "I knew that boy like Myrtle. He would blush up a storm everytime he saw her." Nicky giggled at that. Then Esther went back to her party. Nicky just looked up to the stars. Soon, Jayden came over.  
"Hey, Savour." He teased, sitting next to her. She rolled her eyes, but was smiling. "It's getting dark. Swaine's letting us stay in his hut with him. Wanna join us?" She shrugged.  
"I will in a minute. I'm just thinking."  
"About what?" He asked, nudging her.  
"About how I'm supposed to save the world." She told him. "I know I can do it, I just don't know how." Jayden clasped his hands together, looking at the ground.  
"Well, you'll figure it out." He told her. "At least we have a lead. Mortui told you that he'll meet you at Hamelin." Nicky sighed.  
"What's Hamelin like, anyway?" Jayden whistled.  
"Hamelin's pretty neat, actually. There are rails on the ground that the buildings move on, and everyone always has to most advanced technology. It used to be really smoggy there, but since Harmony became Empress, she's really helped with their problem. There are air vents everywhere that suck out the smoke and clear the air! And the area around Hamelin's been looking better to. She cleared away all of the trash and things that cluttered up the Pig Iron Plains. It's starting to look more and more like Billy Goat's Bluff everyday!" Nicky tilted her head, confused.  
" Trash? Clutter? Dad never told me about that." Jayden's eyes widened.  
"Oh man! My dad told me about that. He said that he heard from my grandfather. Before the Wizard's Wars, all of Autumnia looked amazing! Green grass, autumn trees with their orange, red, and yellow leaves. There was an amazing autumn breeze and Hamelin didn't have a cover over it! It was a farming city!" Nicky laughed with him.  
"You're joking!" He shook his head, laughing with her.  
"I'm not! That's what he said!" Then his laughter slowed down until it stopped. "But during the Wizard's Wars, the people of Hamelin got scared. So they moved their entire city underground and built the huge cover. And boy did they upgrade! Anything they didn't use, it went to the Pig Iron Plains. That's how a lot of the Automata familiars got there. All the garbage." Jayden looked disgusted at this.  
"But now that the wars are over, can't they take the cover off?" Nicky asked him. He shook his head.  
"At this point, Harmony's lucky she got the trash cleared out of the plains. And it wasn't only Hamelin during the wars. Shadar cursed the Miasma Marshes. There was purple miasma hanging over it all the time, and it was filled with familiars of the Mortui genus. Those are the undead ones, mind you. At least now they look better after Oliver defeated Shadar. But the only place you can get the real Autumnia weather is on Billy Goat's Bluff by Perdida."  
"Actually, we're fixing that." They heard a melodious voice say. They turned and saw Harmony standing there, listening in. "You'd think someone would know if they were getting eavesdropped upon." She told us smirking. Jayden looked at the ground.  
"It is really nice, what you've done with the island." She nodded, still smiling.  
"Thank you. But you two need to get some sleep. It's late." Jayden nodded and Nicky yawned.  
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Nicky told her, feeling a little better after the talks she had with Esther and Jayden.


	15. Chapter 15

Before they went to Autumnia, Nicky knew she had to prepare. And did she ever! Everyone on the ship had something to show her and teach her.  
Harmony showed her some of the tricks that she did in battle, like doing a back flip over a Fireball and landing on one foot, all the while preparing to aim a Frostbite back at your opponent.  
"I've had to learn how to do a few things on one foot." Harmony explained once when Nicky fell over. "You may be able to do it on both feet like I did before, but learning to land on one foot is feat worth learning." Nicky nodded, ready to try again.  
Esther taught Nicky how to care for Mim and her Tu-Whit, whom she had named Bogo because he reminded her of Esther's familiar, Gogo.  
"I know you know when to watch for Metamorphosis and about battling, but that's not just what familiars are about." Esther told her one day after Bogo had lost a battle with a Sprog Cog and Nicky had eaten some bread. "You are connected to your familiar at the heart, so you're not just worrying about her, you're worrying about yourself. Watch her health, and know when to pull her back in so she can recharge. Same with Mim, but he's more powerful. You're only going to last longer the more experience you get." Nicky nodded, taking this information to heart as a Whambat came running up at her. Nicky sent out Mim this time.  
"Mim! Use See Stars!" Mim whacked the Whambat a few times, making it confused. "Now use Poison Pinch!" Mim poisoned the creature, before attacking it, earning a decent hit and sending the Whambat down. Nicky smiled at Esther, who smiled back.  
"You're definitely Oliver's daughter. You learn fast like he does."  
Swaine couldn't teach her too much, since he didn't know any magic or much about familiars outside of what Esther had taught him, but he was able to teach Evan some good moves and cheeky tricks with his pistol.  
"For now, you use the mirror so you can see where you're aiming, but soon you'll be able to do it without the mirror." Swaine explained to Evan one day, showing him how to do a Rotshot behind his back.  
"Swaine, if Evan gets poisoned because you're teaching him recklessly, you're explaining to Ali and Yasmina what happened to their son." Harmony told him from where she was showing Nicky a quicker way to do Arrow of Light.  
Jayden and Sappy didn't participate in these teachings. Sappy usually hung around his fairy friends, while Jayden sat and observed, occasionally making a snarky comment.  
"Nicky, I think you're supposed to stay on your staff, not fall on the ground." He said once when Harmony was showing her how to stand on the Sea Staff while a Broom Broom spell was cast on it and Nicky had fallen off. Nicky glared at him.  
"Well why don't you get your lazy butt off the ground and practice with me?" She growled. Jayden just chuckled.  
"I don't need practice. I've been balancing on the edge of the Wyvern since I could walk!" Harmony watched from where she was leaning on her cane, then grinned.  
"Well, if its so easy, then you come down here and do it, Jayden. Show Nicky how it's done." Jayden's eyes went wide, but he stood up.  
"Alright. I'll prove it!" Nicky looked to Harmony with worry, but Harmony seemed confident, so she cast Broom Broom on the Sea Staff and Jayden climbed on top of it. As it rose into the air, Jayden slowly stood to his feet, holding out his arms for balance.  
"Wingardium Leviosa." Nicky heard Harmony whisper, and all of a sudden, Jayden went shooting up!  
"Ahh!" He screamed out, falling over and hanging into the Sea Staff for dear life. "Harmony!" He called, but she hardly heard him over her and Nicky's laughing.  
"Give up yet, Jaydie-boy?" She called. Jayden glared at her as he stood back up.  
"No! I'm fine!" She shrugged.

"Fine. Just remember, as the Songstress, I can sing my spells and do this allll day." Then she aimed her finger at him. "Wingardium Leviosa!" Jayden screamed again as he thrown higher into the air.  
"Argh! Alright!" He shouted. "I give! I give! Let me down!" Nicky laughed again as Harmony let him down. "Damn, that's harder than it looks." Harmony smiled.  
"More or less. I may have made it more difficult for you." Jayden crossed his arms. "Thank you Harry for showing me that one!" Nicky's ears perked at that.  
"Harry?" Harmony nodded.  
"Harry Potter. He was an old friend of our's. Oliver went to school with him in England after he turned fifteen. He would have sent youy there, but he thought it was too far away." Nicky remembered Harry Potter. Her father told her lots of stories about him...  
 _"_ _He_ _didn't_ _really_ _fight_ _the_ _Basilisk_ _alone,_ _did_ _he_ _,_ _Daddy_ _?"_ _Nicky_ _asked_ _Oliver_ _nervously_ _._  
 _"_ _From_ _what_ _Ron_ _,_ _Hermione_ _,_ _and_ _Ginny_ _told_ _me_ _,_ _he_ _most_ _certainly_ _did_ _!"_ _Nicky_ _giggled_ _._  
 _"_ _Daddy_ _,_ _with_ _the_ _stories_ _you_ _tell_ _,_ _you_ _should_ _write_ _books_ _!"_ _Oliver_ _shrugged_ _._  
 _"_ _Well_ _,_ _I'm_ _not_ _very_ _good_ _at_ _writing_ _the_ _stories_ _,_ _only_ _living_ _them_ _."_ _Then_ _he_ _rubbed_ _his_ _chin_ _. "_ _But_ _,_ _I_ _have_ _a_ _friend_ _who_ _could_ _put_ _it_ _into_ _words_ _like_ _nobody_ _else_ _!"_  
 _"_ _Who's_ _that_ _,_ _Daddy_ _?"_ _Nick_ _asked_ _._ _He_ _smiled_ _._  
 _"_ _Her_ _name_ _is_ _Jo_ _, Joanne Kathleen_ _Rowling_ _._ _I_ _met_ _her_ _at_ _Hogwarts_ _,_ _actually_ _._ _She_ _was_ _a_ _third_ _year_ _Gryffindor_ _when_ _I_ _met_ _her_ _._ _Though_ _she_ _was_ _a_ _bit_ _of_ _a_ _different_ _sort_ _of_ _Gryffindor_ _._ _Not_ _quite_ _as_ _show_ _offy_ _as_ _the_ _others_ _."_ _Nicky_ _grabbed_ _Oliver's_ _arm_ _and_ _shook_ _it_ _._  
 _"_ _Please_ _call_ _her_ _!_ _Tell_ _her_ _about_ _Harry_ _Potter_ _and_ _have_ _her_ _write_ _his_ _stories_ _!"_ _Oliver_ _laughed_ _._  
 _"_ _Well_ _,_ _she's_ _still_ _in_ _the_ _wizarding_ _community_ _,_ _so_ _I_ _have_ _to_ _get_ _my_ _owl_ _."_ _Nicky_ _gasped_ _._  
 _"_ _Daddy_ _!_ _You_ _never_ _said_ _you_ _had_ _an_ _owl_ _!"_ _He_ _nodded_ _._  
 _"_ _Of_ _course_ _!_ _But_ _he_ _lives_ _in_ _the_ _park,_ _so_ _that_ _he_ _doesn't_ _make_ _a_ _mess_ _in_ _the_ _house_ _."_ _Then_ _he_ _lifted_ _her_ _onto_ _his_ _shoulders_ _. "_ _Come_ _on_ _,_ _littlie_ _!_ _Mommy_ _won't_ _know_ _we_ _snuck_ _out_ _if_ _we're_ _quick_ _!"_ _Nicky_ _laughed_ _as_ _they_ _went_ _racing_ _out_ _the_ _door_ _,_ _down_ _the_ _stairs_ _,_ _and_ _out_ _into_ _the_ _night_ _,_ _searching_ _for_ _Oliver's_ _pet_ _owl_ _._  
Nicky smiled, recalling the days that followed after sending the letter, sitting with her dad with a cold from running around in the dark, and receiving the book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone as get well gifts, as well as six more when they came out.  
Remembering her dad brought back what she knew she had to do, and she wiped her eyes before the tears fell.  
"I'm coming, Daddy." She whispered, smiling as Jayden and Harmony joked around. "I promise."

(Okay, quick question. As you may or may not know, I made the book Gotta Catch Em All In Ni No Kuni before this and they got Pokémon then. How okay is everyone with it if these guys got Pokémon?)


	16. Chapter 16

Swaine watched as Harmony walked down the ramp off the boat, keeping her eye on Evan so he wouldn't fall off into the water below. Then Swaine ran over and took Harmony's arm and carefully led her down the ramp. She gave him a look.  
"Swaine, I'm fine." She told him. "The baby's just kicking especially hard today." He shook his head.  
"Harmony, we're getting ready to get into a huge battle. I don't want to see you or the baby get hurt, not today of all days." She rolled her eyes, but Swaine was sure she was grateful. The due date could be getting closer and closer and he didn't know if he was ready, much less Harmony.  
"Swaine, if anything happens, I can handle it. I'm the Songstress for goodness sakes."  
"Yeah, a pregnant Songstress." She gave him a swift punch to the shoulder and they both laughed. Nicky watched with a pang in her heart. They reminded her so much of her Uncle Sam and Aunt Melody. Made sense that they were soulmates.  
When they finally reached the others, Swaine let go of Harmony's hand and addressed the whole team.  
"Okay, so here's the plan." He said. "All of Hamelin is filled with those manna-made creatures. Those are people who have been turned into monstrous zombie-like creatures." He explained to the younger generation. "And not only that, it's fitting that the undead man has a undead familiar army behind him."  
"So why don't you explain your plan, then?" Harmony interrupted, a little irritated. Nicky was pretty sure those were her hormones, though.  
Swaine gave Harmony a dirty look, but continued. "Right, anyway. I think to take down the familiars, we need to divide and conquer. We'll split up into groups. I'll take Harmony, Esther can take Evan and Sappy, and Nicky and Jayden can be partners. When we find Mortui, I want us to be together, so the group that finds him first, send somebody to find the others while the other person stays behind and makes sure he doesn't leave. If we need to, we'll stay together as we get through the city, but we will part ways in the palace. Also, as I said before, the people have been changed into manna-made zombies. Do not kill them, they are still people and they will change back. Just knock them out if necessary. Any questions?" Harmony raised her hand a little ways.  
"I would rather go with Evan and Sappy." She told Swaine. "Esther and Evan are strong, but not on their own. Esther can really only do healing spells and Evan's magicless, like you. I'll take the smaller two, you go with Esther. That way, we're all evenly powered." Swaine opened his mouth to protest, but Harmony stopped him. "No, don't argue, there's no time for that." He sighed, then nodded.  
"Alright. Anybody else? Questions?"  
"Yeah, I got one." Jayden told Swaine. "When did you get so bossy?" Everyone laughed at him, then they broke, running into Hamelin. Swaine and Esther started down the winding path, fighting along the way, while Harmony led Sappy and Evan up and over the buildings, using her magic to make them carefully go across the tracks so that the people wouldn't get squashed below. Jayden held out his sword and Nicky held out Aaliyah's staff to the zombies and familiars coming out at them. Jayden leaned down a little to be ear level with Nicky.  
"Alright, we have two ways to get out of here. We can follow Swaine and Esther and go down the long road, or we can take my shortcut." He whispered to her.  
"What's your shortcut?" She whispered back. He grinned at her.  
"Just don't let go." He whispered. Then he grabbed her hand, pulled her through the crowds of enemies, slashing at the familiars with his sword and hitting the people with the hilt. He was running straight towards a railing the led to a drop onto the main road.  
"Jayden...!" Nicky said nervously. Then he jumped over, pulling her in close and holding her tight. "JAYDEN!" She screamed, gripping him as tight as she could. Then Jayden reached into his pocket, and pulled out Swaine's Pickpocket Pistol! He hit the trigger, and out came a grappling hook, that attached itself to a vent in the roof of the city! Nicky screamed as they almost hit the ground, then sighed with relief as they just barely missed it and they went up and away from the enemies.  
"Cast a Veil spell while we're still in the air! We're going through the balcony!" Jayden shouted at her. She did just that, and he retracted the hook, them flying through an open door on the balcony and right past two Senfanists.  
"What the hell!?" They shouted, looking towards where Jayden and Nicky had landed. They came over and waved their spears around on the floor. Nicky scrambled back, avoiding the swinging spears. She didn't know if they could feel her with the Veil spell on, but she sure as heck didn't want to find out! Jayden stumbled to his feet, practically doing the limbo to avoid being hit by the flying spear. Then Nicky felt something tap her toes, and saw the butt of the spear tapping it.  
"I feel something! Someone must be using magic!"  
"Get the Unveil Powder! We'll find them!"  
"Crap!" Nicky shouted, getting to her feet. "Jayden, run!" They headed down the hall, just barely getting hit by some white powder, the Veil spell slowly already being taken off.  
"Nicky, hurry!" Jayden told her. They ran into a huge room, where they bumped into something invisible. Someone. Both Veil spells faded to reveal Harmony! She was by herself.  
"Harmony!" Nicky cried. "Where's Evan and Sappy?" Harmony looked distressed as she shrugged.  
"I-I don't know! We got spotted by a guard and the two of them ran off without me! I've been on a Veil spell trying to find them!" That was when they heard a squeaky ten year old boy voice and a deeper Welsh fairy voice.  
"HARMONY/SONG-GIRL!" It was them! "HELP!" Their voices were coming from Marcassin's chambers.  
"Evan! Sappy!" Nicky cried, running towards their voices. "They must be in trouble!" Harmony and Jayden followed her, and when they got to the chambers, they found Evan and Sappy cowering before Mortui! He was cackling evilly as the others entered.  
"Well, if it isn't the Young Savour! Her and her little gang!" Nicky snarled at him.  
"Mortui! Where are they!? Where is my father, the royals and the Sages!?" Mortui raised where his eyebrows should have been. "Tell me now!" Suddenly, an Arrow of Light shot at him and he fell back, Harmony stomping up to him.  
"Answer her!" She demanded. "Where's my husband and my brother!?" Mortui crawled back a little ways, then stood up and dusted himself off, smirking at the Deal Chain around her wrist.  
"Your husband?" He asked cockily, then looked towards Nicky and the others. "Your father? What about your queen?" Evan grunted at him. "Or your lord?" Sappy crossed his arms. "Or maybe your parents?" Jayden looked down. "You all want your loved ones back?"  
"Yes!" Harmony and Nicky said in unison.  
"Why the flip do you think we're here?" Sappy snarled. Evan grunted again, and Jayden slowly nodded. Mortui cackled again, then threw some white dust at them. "Very well!" Then Nicky felt the dust fly into her eyes, making her close them, and she felt herself hit the ground.  
"Nicky!" She heard Jayden shout her name, then something brush against her wrist, but not grasp. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself not in the Porcine Palace anymore. Instead, she was on a shining pink floor, the walls a white ivory with pillars. Not to far away, were platforms with gold on the sides and they were pushed into alcoves in the wall. She looked around and saw that Jayden had fallen not too far from her, and Harmony was helping Evan and Sappy up. Evan looked around nervously, rubbing his eyes.  
"Where are we?" He asked.  
"The Ivory Tower." Harmony told them. "The Seat of Queen Cassiopeia." Then she nodded towards the platforms on the floor. "And that's normally where the magimechs are."  
"But they en't there now, en't they?" Sappy interrupted, walking up and looking at one.  
"So what's going to be?" Jayden wondered out loud. Suddenly, the platform Sappy was inspecting sprang to life, a dazzling bright light covering the top like a teleport.  
"Sappy, what did you do?" Nicky asked. Sappy held up his hands defensively.  
"I didn't do nothing, mun!" Suddenly, the light disappeared, revealing a small man with light yellow skin, a little white jumpsuit, and a long nose with a lantern hanging off of his nose. Sappy jumped about ten feet in the air.  
"Lord Drippy!" Then one that was closest to Evan came alive, and revealed a young woman with curly red hair, a white dress, and white ballet flats. She wore a green pendant and a silver tiara with a single green stone on it. Evan's eyes nearly popped out of his head.  
"Queen Aaliyah!" She smiled at him, and he returned it with a huge hug as a third platform lit up by Jayden, and not one, but two people appeared. One was a man with brown hair that had a purple fur lined cap on covering it. He wore a white shirt and a tan pants with brown moccasins. The other was a woman with dark brown hair, tanned skin, and and an outfit just like Aaliyah's. Jayden gasped.  
"Mom! Dad!" They both looked proud of him as the one Harmony stood next to lit up, and it revealed a young man wearing the same thing as Kublai, but he had pale skin, with long navy coloured hair and deep, perfect, blue eyes. Harmony gasped with tears in her eyes.  
"Marcassin!" She whispered, running to him and burying her face into his shoulder, crying with happiness. Marcassin wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back, just as the one by Nicky lit up, and a man with red hair, bright blue eyes, and a wrinkled face from smiling so much came from it. Nicky stared in amazement.  
"Dad?" Oliver smiled and nodded, his dimples popping out. "Dad!" She ran up to him, tears streaming down her cheeks, and she wrapped him in a hug, burying her face into his shoulder, sobbing. Oliver hugged her back.  
"It's alright now, Nicky. We're together. I'm so proud of you, sweetie." Nicky listened to him, and almost cried harder, then she realised what he said. In all her years of being his daughter, she knew him well enough to know there was something wrong with that first sentence. It was a small thing, but it was a thing that was wrong. She pulled back from him.  
"Dad? When did you start calling me Nicky?" Oliver's face turned red, like it had suddenly gotten real hot. Or like he had been caught in a lie.  
Oliver cleared his throat, smiling like it was forced. "I-I don't know what you mean, Nicky dear. Haven't I always-" She pulled away from him, cutting him off.  
"You did it again. You've never called me Nicky!" She tried to get away. This wasn't her dad. She could see it now. The dullness of just, him. His eyes didn't twinkle, his hair was more gray, just little things that added up to one big thing.  
Oliver reached out and took her wrists. She looked to the others, who were practically hypnotised by their loved ones. "Guys! Help!" Harmony turned her head and glanced at Nicky, but using his thumb and pressing gently on her chin, Marcassin turned her attention back on him. He had his arm wrapped around her with her back towards him and he was rubbing her swollen belly.  
"Don't pay a bit of attention to her, Harmony. I'm here now, for you and our son." She chuckled and gave him a peck on the lips.  
"Hm hm, what makes you think that..." Then she realised what he said, and furrowed her eyebrows at him, frowning. "How did you know I was pregnant?" All the colour drained Marcassin's face. He chuckled nervously.  
"Wh-what do you mean?" He asked her. "Of course I knew. Why wouldn't I have known that my wife was pregnant?" She pulled away and stepped back, now looking terrified at Marcassin.  
"I'll tell you why you shouldn't have known that I was pregnant." She told him angrily, reaching for her staff that wasn't there. Nobody had their weapons. "I never told Marcassin." Marcassin frowned angrily, his eyes beginning to glow red.  
"Ignorant Songstress." He growled, his voice not Marcassin's anymore, but deep and furious. "Why couldn't you just be happy with what you got!? Instead of being selfish, and knowingly about to get yourself killed!" Then his arms changed into octopus tentacles, and they shot out at her, wrapping around Harmony and pulling her back to him. She grunted and struggled against him, catching Evan's attention from where he was sitting and telling Aaliyah about their adventures. He looked past her and saw Nicky fight against Oliver, who held her wrists and wouldn't let go. Then he looked back at Aaliyah, and stood up, backing away. She stood up as well and tilted her head at him, looking confused.  
"Where are you going, Evan?" She asked him, a little creepily in his opinion. "I missed you. Please, stay with me." He shook his head vigorously, now frightened of the woman who stood before him. After all, Nicky had just been betrayed by her father and Harmony her husband. Why should he trust the ruler of his kingdom?  
"I won't come with you!" He told her. "How can I know I can trust you?" Jayden overheard this from where he and his parents had been talking, and backed away a little. Khulan, who was an exceptionally tough woman, looked close to tears, while Kublai looked discouraged.  
"Jayden. Come back. Please." Khulan pleaded. Jayden shook his head and reached out his arm, in which Evan ran over to him, and Jayden put his arm around the smaller boy protectively.  
"No way." He told them, glancing Aaliyah, who looked like she was getting angry, then looked over at Drippy and Sappy, who were happily chatting away and completely oblivious to the chaos behind them.  
"Jayden!" Evan suddenly shouted, and Jayden looked back to see his parents and Aaliyah, their eyes glowing red. Evan hugged the arm that Jayden had wrapped around him.  
"Puny, magicless, mortals!" The three of them said in unison. "You will suffer for your stupidity!"  
"Sappy! He isn't the real Lord Drippy!" Evan called to the fairy. Sappy finally turned and saw it. Nicky fighting against Oliver, Harmony being dragged towards Marcassin, and the glowing red eyes of Kublai, Khulan, and Aaliyah. Then he turned back and saw that Drippy had disappeared. In his place was a huge snake with a hood, and was green, orange, and purple, his eyes glowing red.  
"Was it something I said?" Sappy said meekly.  
Nicky pulled and pulled, trying to get her wrists out of Oliver's grasps. The Ivory Tower was beginning to collapse as our heroes realised that their loved ones weren't their loved ones.  
"Stop resisting, magic brat!" Oliver shouted at her. "I'm your father! Obey me!" Nicky shook her head, glaring at him.  
"No! You're not my father! You're not real! This isn't REAL!" Oliver's eyes glowed red and he roared like a lion, shaking the Ivory Tower, his grip not loosening.  
"Nicky!" Jayden and Evan raced over, being slowly followed by Kublai, Khulan, and Aaliyah. "Harmony!" Jayden tried to pull Nicky's wrist's out of Oliver's hands while Evan and Sappy ran over and tried to free Harmony from Marcassin, who's tentacle arms had her wrapped against his body, like a forced embrace.  
"Let me go, you Senfanist!" Harmony shouted. "Get away from me! You're not real!" That was when the building collapsed, and they all woke up back in the Porcine Palace, Oliver's hands and Marcassin's arms turned into chains around Nicky and Harmony, holding them chained against a wall. Jayden, Evan, and Sappy woke up by the entrance with no chains on them, and ran over to help the girls. Jayden used his sword and slashed at their chains, Nicky's coming off the wall, but they couldn't get them off her wrists. Harmony's stayed on her wrists and kept her pinned to the wall. Then a ball of a black magic came and hit her right in her pregnant belly, making her shout, and Mortui's cackle came from behind them. Nicky, Jayden, and Evan stood with their weapons back in hand, ready to fight the undead man. Sappy stood by Harmony protectively, who had gone deathly pale.  
"I admire your spirit." Mortui told them. "Not many would have caught the little mistakes the Senfanists made, and survived."  
"Let my friends go!" Nicky lashed out, furious with herself that she had been so easily tricked like that. "This is between you and me, Mortui." Mortui chuckled.  
"We-ell, I'm sure Pirate-boy and Frog-prince here have something to say about that, but I wouldn't count on the Songstress and the fairy." Nicky furrowed her eyebrows at him.  
"What do you mean?" Mortui chuckled.  
"Well, the fairy never did much anyway, and the Songstress is a bit, preoccupied." All of a sudden, Harmony screamed in pain and she fell to the ground, panting hard.  
"Harmony!" Nicky cried.  
"Harmony!" A deeper voice called, then Mortui shouted. Nicky turned and saw Swaine and Esther running in. Swaine had shot Mortui with a Rotshot. When he saw his sister in law, on the ground, and he practically flew over to her. "Harmony, what's wrong?" She gasped in pain, trying to speak.  
"Contractions." Mortui told them. "Your precious Songstress can't help you because she's going into labour." Harmony gave him a pained look.  
"What?" She gasped. Swaine glared at the undead man.  
"You threw her into labour!?" He shouted. Mortui grinned.  
"Little one's on his way. Push..." Harmony screamed again.


	17. Chapter 17

"Harmony!" Nicky held Harmony's hand, covering her with a Ward spell. Mortui rolled his eyes.

"Oh please. I can't watch you miserable mortals giving birth right here. It's revolting." Then he vanished, and they were left alone! Harmony screamed again, gripping Nicky and Swaine's hands tighter.  
"What do we do?" Swaine cried out, frightened.  
"I don't know!" Nicky had sort of been depending on him to know the answer. He'd never been frightened like this before, not in any of the stories or on this adventure or anything!  
That was when Esther snapped her fingers and got their attention.  
"Jayden, I want you to take Evan and Sappy and step out of the room! Keep them safe!" She told them. "If Mortui or any Senfanists show up, you come right back in!" Then she looked to Swaine and Nicky. "You two, keep her calm. We don't want anything happening to the baby." Harmony glared at her.  
"Oh right, I can be calm. Because, you know, I'm totally not giving birth right now while we maybe fighting for our lives!"  
"Harmony, keep it together." Swaine told her softly and calmly, even though his face was red with worry. Then he looked to Nicky. "Nicky, there maybe some calming draught in the Bottomless Bag. See if you can find it and give her some." Without taking her hand away from Harmony's, Nicky slipped the Bottomless Bag from around her shoulders and dug through it until she found the bottle labeled _Calm_ _._ She handed it to Harmony, who pulled her hand away for only a second to drink the draught, instantly calming down.  
"Alright, Harmony, I'm going to need you to, uh... Breath, please breath!" Esther told her, taking Harmony's cloak off and laying it on the floor.  
"Do you know how to deliver a baby!?" Swaine demanded of her, looking like he was trying very hard to stay calm, but failing.  
"Stop yelling at me, this is my first time!" Esther told him.  
"Gaahh!" Harmony cried out, and Nicky held her hand tighter.  
"Okay Harmony, push!" Nicky told her, grabbing Swaine and Esther's attention again and Esther got ready. "Again! Push!" Harmony grunted and and yelled as she pushed.  
"I can see the head!" Esther told them. "Push again! One more time!" Harmony gave one last big push, and Esther pulled the baby out, wiping it down with Harmony's cloak and its cry filling the room.  
"Its a boy." Esther panted, Nicky using her staff to separate the umbilical cord. "Harmony, its a boy!" Harmony smiled, sweat running down her red face as Esther handed her her new son. Harmony wrapped the cloak around the baby, smiling down at him.  
"Hello, sweetie." She whispered as the baby cried. "Hello. Its me. I'm your mummy." The baby calmed down at the sound of her voice, and Nicky sighed. She felt tired, though she couldn't imagine what Harmony was going through.  
"Can we come in now?" They all looked away from the baby to see Jayden, Evan, and Sappy standing at the door, peeking. Esther nodded, and the three of them quietly came over and crouched down. "Wow!" Evan whispered. "He's so cute!" Sappy nodded, smiling proudly as if it was his own child.  
"New life. One of those strange miracles, mun."  
"He's so tiny." Nicky remarked. Jayden nodded.  
"Yeah. He's no bigger than Sappy." Sappy gave an indignant look, making everyone laugh and the baby fuss. Swaine got closer and brought his finger to the baby's hand, making the baby wrap his hand around his finger. Swaine nearly cried, he looked so happy.  
"Hey there, squirt." He said softly. "I'm Uncle Swaine." He chuckled. "I'm an uncle." Harmony and Esther chuckled, the younger generation distracted by the baby. Then Esther came closer and had the baby take her finger in his other hand.  
"And I'm Auntie Esther." She whispered.  
"What's his name going to be?" Evan asked. Harmony looked to her baby for a few minutes, then smiled again.  
"I've got it. Gascon Nicolas. His name will be Prince Gascon Nicolas the Second, named after his favourite cousin and dopey uncle." Nicky looked at Harmony, surprised and honoured.  
"Well, of all the things to be named after me, I never imagined a prince from another world." She murmured, making everyone laugh again.  
That was when they heard slow clapping, and turned to see Mortui coming up.  
"How touching. What a shame that it has to end with your deaths." Nicky stood to her feet, standing over her friends protectively.  
"Leave them alone, Mortui. This is just between you and me. You're not touching the baby." Jayden, Evan, and Sappy stood next to her at once.  
"She means this is between you, and us." Jayden snarled.  
"Swaine, get Harmony, Esther, and the baby out of here." Nicky told him, before shooting an Arrow of Light at Mortui. "We'll take care of this creep." Swaine and Esther nodded, before Swaine picked up Harmony bridal style, Esther taking Gascon out of her hands, holding him closely, before they ran out of the room, Mortui aiming a spell at them, but missing. He glared back at Nicky and her friends.  
"You fools think you have defeated me. But you have come no wear near to defeating me!" Then he held up his staff. "Breaking Heart!" But Nicky was quick.  
"Purity Shield!" And the spell protected her from Mortui's spell. Mortui frowned.  
"Pity. A little bit closer, and your heart would be broken like your pitiful father's." Nicky gasped, then she screamed out in anger.  
 _"Astra!"_ She screamed, aiming the spell she'd only done for practice once and nearly killed herself doing so, right at Mortui, who screamed out in pain. "Don't you _dare_ talk about my father like that!" She aimed a Mornstar at him as well. "My father can fight off a broken heart better than anyone I've ever known!"  
"She's right, you know!" Sappy told Mortui, handing Nicky a cappuccino, which she drained. "The Pure Hearted One has saved this world for longer than you've been alive, mun! There's no way he'd get his heart broken by the likes of you!" Mortui glared at them, then aimed his staff at Nicky.  
 _"_ _Sectumsempra_ _!"_ Nicky then felt as if a knife went through her body and fell to the ground, clutching her bleeding body and her vision blurring.  
 _"_ _Nicky_ _!"_ She barely heard Evan's small voice as he ran to her.  
 _"_ _No_ _!"_ Jayden screamed. _"_ _Evan_ _!_ _Grab_ _her_ _bag_ _!_ _Let's_ _get_ _out_ _of_ _here_ _!"_ Then everything went black.


	18. Chapter 18

"Nicky? Are you okay?" Nicky heard Evan's small voice again, and opened her eyes slowly, shrieking at the bright light.

"Gah! Turn it off! Turn it off!" She cried, turning away.

"Swaine, get the light and the curtain!" There was a click, and a swish, and the only light that came through came through the sheer fabric of the curtains. Nicky allowed her eyes to adjust, and found that she was surrounded by Jayden, Evan, Sappy, and Swaine. She tried to sit up, but cried out at the sudden pain in her abdomen, falling back down, making where she was laying rock.

"Take it easy, Nicky." Swaine told her, stopping the rocking. She realised that she was back on the Iron Wyvern, and she was lying in her hammock. She felt around her abdomen, and found that she had a bandage wrapping around her entire upper body.

"What... What happened?" She asked.

"Sectumsempra." Swaine told her. "A spell that cuts through your body like a knife. You're lucky they got you out of there when they did. Otherwise... The results could have been fatal."

"Miss Esther had to wrap bandages around you and use Healing Touch a lot while we were out in the hallway." Evan told her. "She said that you almost ran out of blood." Evan's eyes were full of tears, so Nicky reached over and hugged him the best she could.

"Its okay, Evan. I'm okay now." Then she realised it was only the boys who surrounded her. "Where's Harmony? And Esther, and the baby?" She asked.

"Esther's tending to Harmony and the baby down the hall." Swaine told her. "They're fine. Harmony's exhausted, but fine." Nicky fell back, relieved. Then she realised something.

She failed.

She had been face to face with Mortui, shot spells at him, even spoke to him, but she had failed. Her dad was still a prisoner! This was all her fault!

She rolled over and faced the wall, wincing. "Nicky-girl, whats wrong?" Sappy asked her, jumping up and grabbing onto the ropes of her hammock. "You feeling alright there, mun?" She shook her head.

"I failed. I didn't defeat Mortui, and I didn't save my father. I don't think I can." Jayden put his hand on her shoulder gently.

"Nicky, one defeat doesn't determine the rest of the battle. We just need better artillery. A better wand for you, for start. The Sea Staff is powerful, but I've always been taught that the wand chooses the wizard, and the Sea Staff chose Queen Aaliyah, not you. We need to get you a better one." Swaine looked thoughtful, but said nothing on the matter. Instead, he left.

"I have to check on Harmony." He told them, shutting the door.

"Where would we find a new wand?" Nicky asked, ignoring Swaine.

"There are a lot of powerful wands out there." Evan told her. "Even more just regular wands, like King Tom's wand."

"Yes." Jayden nodded. "Our problem is, we can't get a hold of them. Mornstar's back in your world, Nicky, the Sea Staff is clearly not powerful enough, Mortui's got Astra, the Elder Wand is in the grave..."

"What about Lucien, mun?" Sappy asked. "The Wand of the Dark Djinn!" Nicky tried to sit up again, this time with Jayden's help.

"The Wand of the Dark Djinn?" She asked. Sappy nodded.

"Yeah, mun! Hadn't Ollie-boy told you bout it yet?" She shook her head, and Evan jump up.

"Ooh! Ooh! Let me tell her!" Jayden chuckled, and he and Sappy let Evan have the stage. "The Wand of the Dark Djinn is what was left of Shadar's powers! When he was defeated, his dark powers returned to the White Witch! But, when she was defeated, all of his dark despair powers had nowhere to go, so they transformed into a wand and fell in your world! Then, Captain Swan found it and used it to come to our world! That's how she became the Terror of the Seven Seas!" Nicky's eyes went wide.

"Great! Do we know where it is?" They all shook their heads.

"Captain Swan disappeared over two years ago, mun." Sappy told her sadly. "Back when Daimon was just rising up. Her crew was found on the Castaway Coast, many dead or wounded. One mun said that they were attacked, by a woman in a crimson dress decorated by black roses."

"Lelina." Evan murmured. Sappy nodded, then continued.

"He said Lelina told her to get out, he did. Told Captain Swan she needed to hightail it out of here! Took her powers even! But she couldn't turn her to stone, she couldn't. So, she took her powers and scared her off! Nobody's seen her since!" Nicky sighed.

"Well, there must be some kind of clue! Did the man say anything else? Anything that might lead us to her?" Jayden shook his head.

"At that point, we were lucky enough to have gotten what we did out of him!" Nicky's eyebrows rose.

"We?" Jayden nodded, scuffing his toe on the floor.

"Yeah, we. My Dad, Mum, and I found the crew. We were with Esther and Drippy at the time, trying to find her ourselves. The man told us that she was leaving them there for their safety, and would come back, then sailed off in the Sparrowed Star. He didn't know how the ship had survived the onslaught that had killed off half of the crew, but it did. Esther told us that she was probably going to see Swaine, but when we got there, he said that she had just left. He seemed... so upset." Jayden scuffed his toe again. "She had gone there to say goodbye, then vanished. That's why he was with us in the first place. Since we were looking for her, he wanted to find her again."

"And that was when you were all attacked by Daimon himself." Nicky finished for him softly. Jayden nodded, remembering the instance himself...

 _"Jayden, do you see the Sparrowed Star?" Swaine asked him again. Jayden shook his head, still staring at the ground through his telescope. He was lying on his stomach, his head over the edge as he watched for the formidable ship._

 _"Not yet, Swaine. But I'll keep looking." Swaine sighed and walked over to other side, where he leaned against the wall. Esther and Drippy saw him from where they were feeding Esther's familiars, and went over to him._

 _"Aye, Thief-face! Why the long, er, face?" Drippy asked him, and Swaine grunted. Esther leaned against the wall beside him, leaning her head on his shoulder._

 _"We'll find her, Swaine. I know we will. We rarely ever fail in our missions, you know this." He nodded, but she knew his heart wasn't in it. "I promise." He sighed._

 _"Is this how you felt?" She looked up at him._

 _"I'm sorry?"_

 _"Is this how you felt?" He asked again. "When you found out James was a part of Team Rocket, and he had to go back to his own world, even though you knew you would never see him again?" Esther gulped, remembering the blue haired man she had fallen deeply in love with in their short adventures together, before he was ripped away back into his own world, where she could only assume he was back to stealing Pokémon._

 _"Yes." Was what she replied with. "I, like you, didn't care that he was a thief. Love is love, and no matter who they are, two people feel for one another and don't care what the other does, as long they love them back." Jayden listened to this, and felt bad. Nobody had used Gateway in years, ever since Queen Aaliyah had hidden away the spell and erased memory of how to do it from everyone's minds. It was the only way to keep anyone from travelling and destroying the worlds. He wondered what would happen if anybody used it..._

 _All of a sudden, Esther screamed, and Jayden flipped around onto his back, to see a dark looking man, with black robes that had red lining on the edges, a long black, curly beard. In his hand, he held a staff with a red handle, and a gold crownlike top. He glared down at the ship._

 _"You dare take to my skies in search of the Star of the Seas." he growled. "Why?" Kublai ran to the bow of the ship, glaring back at the man._

 _"Your skies? These skies belong to all! And our business has nothing to do with the likes of you!" the man shot at him, hitting his leg and turning it into stone!_

 _"Kublai!" Khulan came running over and helped him stand, glaring back at the man. "Who do you think you are? What claims have you on this world?" The man laughed darkly, the skies turning gray and lightning crackling behind him, the winds picking up. Jayden grabbed onto the safety bar that had been installed onto the edges just in case, trying to not fall off of the ship, unable to pull himself up._

 _"I am Lord Daimon. And your world does not belong to you anymore." Then he shot at Khulan and Kublai, turning their full bodies into stone!_

 _"Mom! Dad!" Jayden shouted, his eyes wide, trying to push his flailing jacket down to try and pull himself up._

 _"Hey! Bozo! Where is Captain Swan!?" Swaine demanded, shooting at Daimon. "Your little girlfriend ran her off! Where is she!?"_

 _"Oh, inviting me to the party, are we?" Lelina appeared, laughing. "I wouldn't take this one, my lord! He's merely a mortal! A nobody!"_

 _"You evil witch!" Esther shouted. "Swaine isn't a nobody! He's helped saved this world more times than you could ever dream! And you are no different!" Daimon yelled out, and the wind shook the whole ship, sending Swaine falling from the ship. "SWAINE!" Esther screamed, and Jayden yelled out as he watched the older man fall to the ground. "Hang on, Jaydie-boy!" Drippy shouted, running over and trying to pull Jayden up, but Lelina laughed loudly and shot at him, turning him to stone! Esther hurried over as Drippy vanished, and Esther pulled Jayden up._

 _"I've got you, Jayden! I've got you!" Esther told him, bringing him close, before she herself was turned to stone, and vanished, along with Lelina and Daimon, leaving only Jayden in the storm with the ship..._

Jayden remembered the horrible journey home, the tears flying from his eyes as she flew, the necklace flying from his pocket and him gripping it, the promise filling his heart.

"Jayden? Are you okay?" Evan tugged at his sleeve, pulling him back into reality. He realized that he, Nicky, and Sappy were all looking at him with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He walked out of the room, trying to rid himself of the awful memory.


	19. Chapter 19

Nicky awoke to Gascon crying and sighed. The poor baby had been keeping everyone up something horribly and Harmony was miserable. She was always trying to keep the baby quiet, insisting that she should leave the journey and go to Al Mamoon to hide, but Nicky didn't want her to go.  
She heard Harmony get up, shushing the baby. Nicky went to her, and heard her humming. It was the lullaby! The same lullaby that Oliver used to play for Nicky on that record! And Harmony sounded exactly the same as the singer on the record.  
Nicky crept down the hall of the ship and peeked into the bedroom where Harmony was walking around with Gascon. Then Nicky got bumped into, and saw Swaine running in.  
"Harmony, what's wrong? Is he okay?" Swaine asked, looking at her worried.  
"Swaine, I'm fine. Please, go back to sleep." Harmony whispered. He groaned and sat down in the rocking chair in the corner.  
"I can't go back to sleep. I'm worried about you. I mean, you gave birth to a child early in the middle of a battle. A child I was unaware that you were having." Harmony tossed her hair, sighing.  
"Once more, it's not like you were the only one, Swaine. I still haven't even told Marcassin, and he's the father!" Swaine stood and put his hands on Harmony's shoulders.  
"I know, but you' re my sister now. Times are different. Marcassin would be counting on me to help you and he doesn't even know that he has a son..." Gascon began to fuss again, and Harmony bounced him up and down.

"Swaine, I understand. He is your nephew after all. But if you'd just let me leave, I'll hide in Al Mamoon. There's no one there-"  
"But the Flyers." He interrupted. "And even if their leader is gone, they'll still attack you and the baby. No, you're both going to stay with us." Then there was creaking sound and Nicky cursed under her breath. She'd moved. Swaine went to the door and opened it to find her.  
"Nicky..." he looked at Harmony, who seemed distressed as Gascon began to cry and she tried to quiet him, so as not to wake anybody else. "How much of that did you hear?"  
"All of it." She whispered, ashamed to be caught eavesdropping. Harmony looked from Gascon to Nicky, then back at Gascon, then back to Nicky, and smiled.  
"Nicky? Would you like to try and get him to sleep?" Nicky was startled by the question, but nodded.  
"O-okay..." She said. She sat in the rocking chair and Harmony handed the baby over. Gascon cried in Nicky's arms as she rocked back and forth, singing the lullaby. "Over hills, green as a spring time, chasing a lonely cloud, white as snow."  
"Someday soon, I mean to catch it, hold tight and up into the sky I'll go." Nicky looked up and saw Harmony had sung with her. Nicky grinned, then continued to sing.  
"I think of what you told me. However sad life seems, that sometimes tears, can turn to dreams... if I could only be with you once more. And hold you tightly to my heart. We could walk this road together. And never, ever be apart. Each and every heart will be healed. On our journey through another world..." the baby was soothed by her song. When she came to the end, Gascon was asleep.  
Harmony gently lifted him from Nicky's arms and laid him in the cradle. Then she went over to Nicky.  
"Here, Nicky. May I walk you back to your room? I'd like to ask you about that song." Swaine began to protest, saying that both girls needed sleep and how they never listened to him, but they ignored him and walked to Nicky's room.  
"How did you know that song? Dad had an old record with it on it." Nicky asked Harmony.  
"That record was given to your father from your grandmother Alicia." Harmony explained. "The song itself is something I gave to Alicia to sing to her child when she left."  
"Was it you who sang it on the record?" Nicky had to ask. Harmony nodded.  
"Alicia held the song close to her as she traveled to the other world, she put it onto that record and played it for Oliver many times when he was young." Nicky's lip quivered, tears forming in her eyes as she thought of her father, when he would soothe her fevers and calm her nerves with that song...  
 _"Oh, Nicole." Oliver had said, rubbing her back as she cried, in pain from fever. "Would you like me to play your song?" She nodded. He went over to the old record player that had sat in this room for years and turned on the record. Then he came back over and sat beside her. She sat up, shaking, curling up in his arms. He handed her Mr. Drippy, which she held close as he rocked her back and forth to the rhythm of the music.  
_ In the present, Nicky wiped her eyes, not wanting to cry in front of Harmony. She hadn't seen the woman cry yet, nor had she heard of her crying in the stories. She was a tough woman. Her eyes would water, but she would just brush it away and keep going. She was Nicky's idol. Harmony hugged Nicky close.  
"It's okay to cry." She whispered.  
"You don't have to be tough."  
"But you're so tough." Nicky told her. "You told Dad once that you cried only one time, when your mother died." Harmony pulled away, smiling.  
"Oh, Nicky. Everyone cries, sweetie. But there is truly only two people who have ever seen me cry true tears. Your father and I once wept together over the lost of our mothers, when we were at Perdida many years ago. And Marcassin once made me cry." Nicky looked shocked at Harmony's words.  
"But I thought Marcassin loved you! Why would he have made you cry?" "Because he loved me I cried." The Songstress told her. "He had told me he loved me for the very first time, and I had been living a thief's life under a false name. And I had been told by a very wise woman, it's either your happiness or the world's. I hadn't know what she meant at the time, but when I did, I painfully chose the world over Marcassin. But he loved me so much, he still waited until I said yes." Nicky smiled at that as Harmony opened the door to her bedroom, leading her to her hammock. "And I have a feeling a certain someone is going to wait for you to say yes." Nicky tilted her head.  
"Who?" She asked. Harmony smiled knowingly."That pirate boy seems to like you." Nicky made an ick face.  
"Jayden? No, we're just friends." Harmony laughed as she left."Oh, Nicky." She said.  
"That's how Oliver and Esther started. Then Oliver married Myrtle." Then she shut the door, leaving Nicky with her thoughts. Did Jayden really like her? He had stuck by her this whole journey, even after she had left him back at the Deep Dark Woods. But he couldn't actually like her, could he?  
"...I mean, how could he like me?" She asked herself. She did a spell that made a mirror appear and looked herself over. She was rather grungy looking. Her shoes looked like they had seen better days, her left sleeve had a tear in the elbow. Her ponytail was falling out again and she had dirt on her face. What part of that would Jayden like? She sighed and crawled back into the hammock, falling out twice and having to use Healing Touch on herself. She had a long few days ahead of her.


	20. Chapter 20

"Swaine, you know you've got to tell her."

"No, Harmony! I can't!"

"She needs Lucien!"

"I promised Nichole I wouldn't tell anybody!"

"Swaine, Nichole isn't here right now! Nicky needs Lucien!" Swaine groaned in exasperation.

"But Nichole made me swear, not to tell anyone!" Harmony's eyebrows rose.

"Except...?" Swaine shook his head.

"No, there was no except!"

"Swaine, you told me there was an except before! Now spill!" Swaine clenched his fists tight.

"Except for the red haired hero who already knew. The one from your stupid songstress prophecy." Harmony nodded.

"Yes, now go! Tell Nicky now! Before its too late!" Swaine looked to his sister in law, as she held his nephew tightly in her arms, realising why she was pushing him so hard.

"You don't want me to regret not telling them like you regret not telling Marcassin." She didn't answer, and Swaine knew he was right, so he left.

Harmony pushed some of her hair away from her face as she looked down at her son. She did regret it. She regretted it so much. She remembered the night she had finally decided to tell Marcassin...

They had just finished dinner, and were now taking a walk by the ocean shore. There couldn't have been a more lovely day to tell Marcassin he was going to become a father, though Harmony was frightened.

"Marcassin, there's something I've got to tell you." She said, but he stopped her.

"Harmony, before you tell me, there's something I've got to say." He came around and held her hands. "I've just got to say, with each passing day, I find that you get more beautiful. And, if we weren't already married, I'd beg you to marry me all over again. And that is why..." Marcassin got down on one knee, and pulled out a little black box, Harmony's face turning absolutely red.

"Marcassin!" He opened the box, and there sat a red ring. The same red ring that had once been on Melody's finger so she could watch over Oliver. "I thought it had been lost!"

"Only the second jewel had been lost." He told her. "I found this in the rubble of the Black Sorceress's fortress." Then he took a deep breath. "Harmony, would you do me the honour of renewing our vows?" Harmony nodded, tears of joy brimming in her eyes.

"Oh, of course I will!" She exclaimed, falling to her knees and wrapping her arms around Marcassin, kissing him all over his face.

Marcassin just laughed, then slipped the ring on her finger. "So, what did you want to tell me?" Harmony wasn't sure if she should tell him now.

"Well, this might come as a bit of a shock." She told him slowly. "And, it may be a bad time, right in the middle of preparing for war. But, now is better than never." Marcassin tilted his head, looking concerned. "Marcassin, I'm... I'm p-" she was interrupted by an arrow flying through the air and landing right beside Marcassin!

"Capture them!" Came a roaring voice from above, and three different animals came down on them, a bear, a boa constrictor, and a leopard. Marcassin and Harmony pointed their staffs at them as a dark looking man, with black robes that had red lining on the edges, and a long black, curly beard came flying down at them, in his hand, he held a staff with a red handle, and a gold crownlike top. He landed gracefully before them, and stared at them.

"Yes, I see. Very powerful." Harmony and Marcassin kept their staffs trained on him and the beasts that surrounded him.

"Who are you?" Harmony demanded.

"I am your new High Lord Superior. Lord Daimon. And you two are a vital piece to my puzzle for utter world domination."

"We would never allow such a slimy figure rule over our world." Harmony spat.

"And I'm sure all of the other rulers would agree tremendously." Marcassin added. Daimon scoffed.

"I need no approval from you or your royal friends. Although, I've been told that Her Moojesty gave up her kingdom very willingly. In fact, you could say the deal was set in stone." Harmony didn't let her hard glare falter, though her mind was racing.

"Thats a lie." Marcassin growled, speaking Harmony's mind. "Queen Aaliyah would never give up her kingdom to scum like yourself." Daimon growled, and used a strong wind from his staff to send Marcassin flying back against the bear, who growled back and grabbed Marcassin by the arms, while the big snake came over and wrapped itself around Harmony's body, the Emperor and the Empress dropping their staffs in the dirt.

Harmony remembered the horrible trip to the Broken Crown, where they had trapped Marcassin away with the bear and she herself had been locked away with the leopard, who watched her every move. If it even looked like she was going to make an attempt at escaping, the leopard would attack her, leaving the stripes of blood that now formed as scars on her arms.

"Please hurry, Swaine." She whispered, hugging Gascon tightly. "Please."


End file.
